Do you prefer high action or low action more?

[Dyson Guitars]

I’m seeing a lot of numbers as medium that I would consider pretty low. What is a “low action” number at the 12th for you guys and gals?

[whvick]

Low as possible without fret buzz

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by LeDave

Do you prefer high action or low action more?

Dave, I voted for high action not because I actively seek out guitars with strings high enough off the fingerboard to be serviceable as cheese slicers, but because it depends entirely upon how the term "low action" is defined.

If you mean I'm one of those guys that wants the action to be "as low as possible without buzzing," no, I'm not. (Edit: hey, WH, I wasn't responding to your post there - I starting writing this post earlier and only now returned to finish and post it.)

I understand the physics of acoustic stringed instruments, since I play a bunch of different ones, and know that trying to get an acoustic guitar to play exactly the same way as a solidbody electric guitar is an exercise in futility.

Acoustic and solidbody electric guitars act in mechanically different ways. On an acoustic the strings have to be a little bit higher because otherwise you'll get endless buzzes and rattles, plus the player has to physically drive the top with string vibrations that electric guitars don't need in the same way.

This is part of the reason that I've never branched out into electric guitarplaying, because I find it easier to go from an acoustic guitar to a mandolin to a banjo than it is for me to modify my right hand attack for an electric.

I'm just an acoustic guy, pure and simple (plus I don't want to dive into the bottomless rabbit hole that is the expensive world of amplifiers and effects pedals!)

Anyway, I do insist on getting the action dialed in perfectly at the nut on every instrument I acquire. Most factory setups, including those of Taylor guitars, the allegedly "perfect action from the factory" instruments, leave the nut at the action at the nut higher than I find comfortable. So I simply won't tolerate a stiff action there. If the nut action isn't where I need it when I first acquire an instrument, once the guitar or mandolin has settled in for two or three weeks I get it professionally set up to where it's comfortable.

Many acoustic guitarists who've always used light or extra light gauge strings are amazed when they play my guitars - they ask: "Oh my God, are those MEDIUM gauge strings?"

Yep, usually they are. Those folks are often astonished because they associate medium gauge strings with virtually unplayable guitars, yet discover when they play my instruments that the action can be lower than with lights because the added tension of the mediums takes up the slack and keeps the strings from vibrating in such a wide arc that string buzzes and rattles will occur.

The only thing mediums aren't as good for as lights is string bending. But in terms of tone and playability, when the guitar is set up properly they're very easy to play.

I suspect many players use lights because those are the most comfortable to play on guitars that haven't been dialed in precisely for the personal needs of the player. That's the advantage of getting a guitar set up by a pro.

In summation, that's why I wrote at the beginning of this post that it all depends on the definition of low action. When getting the action dialed in there's quite a bit of complicated neckset geometry and other factors like playing style that have to be taken into account. So it's not simply a matter of "high action" versus "low action."

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Martin_F]

Like Wade just went into, action height is more complex then just high or low. I like my strings to be high enough I can actually play the guitar hard enough to get a good sound, but not crazy high. However, where the difference really matters is the setup at the nut. If the nut is too high, it makes the whole guitar uncomfortable to play.

A high nut will put many people off of what could be a good playing guitar.

Martin