Opinions On Guitar Action and Playability

[Amiee]

Hi everyone!

I have an acoustic Ashton D-20N and would love some advice. It is extremely difficult to play especially as you go higher. Trying to play a barre chord on the 7th fret is basically impossible right now. I understand that you need to strengthen up your fingers but I wanted to post a picture of the action and maybe get some opinions on if it's way too high or not?
Thank you!

[Amiee]

https://ibb.co/e5N03c
https://ibb.co/gOd7ic

[sirwhale]

How high is the saddle?

Maybe you should take it to a tech and ask for the action you want. It is worth it.

[Gcunplugged]

Amiee,

It looks high in the photos, but the picture is a bit zoomed out, and that makes it hard to say for sure. You might try to take a photo like this one, zoomed in, and using a coin at the 12th fret to give perspective. But ultimately, if it is hard for you to play, then it is too high for *you* and that is what matters the most. I'd suggest having someone do a setup on it if you can.

looks high and the strings look a bit tarnished (old).
hopefully a moderator will move this to the appropriate sub-forum as it's a steel string guitar.

[dosland]

From the first picture I'd say the action is very high indeed, and there may have been some fiddling with the truss rod at some point. One option might be to put light gauge strings (new ones) on the guitar and see if the neck flattens out a bit under less stress. Without seeing the saddle/lower bout of the guitar, I'm guessing the saddle height is fine but there may be some bowing upward behind (below) the bridge. If the guitar is new and unmodified, I'd take it back to the shop where you got it and have their tech look things over and make any adjustments. In New Zealand, I'd want them to make it playable or refund my money, if it was a new guitar. You shouldn't have to bust your fingertips to play a new factory guitar, and nobody should be selling new guitars with strings that look that old! Good luck!

[Amiee]

Thank you for the replies everyone. I'll post more pictures of the bridge and how high the action is. It is definitely not a new guitar, I got it second hand from a friend. I hope the pictures help.

[Amiee]

https://ibb.co/f65pyc
https://ibb.co/hbMUyc
https://ibb.co/cSaNJc

[Wistah]

The action is very high. But the good news is there is a lot room left on the saddle for adjustment. Take the guitar to a music shop a good repair technician, and pay for a set up. Shouldn't be too expensive. It will play like a brand new guitar, and those barre chords will be much easier.

[robj144]

Just go and get it setup.

[Brucebubs]

For a comparison, keeping in mind that everyone is different, this is the height I find comfortable for finger-style, pick and strumming.
Metric ruler standing on the fret.
Over 2.0 mm but under 2.5 mm.



Pretty much the same on my 12-string guitars too.