Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

low action and lost tone

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • low action and lost tone

    i did my first adjustments to the truss rod the other day, and i can see that the action has improved, the guitar is easier to play.
    the only disadvantage is that the lower your action is the more tone you lose and, a big problem for me is that the strings, especially E/A/D tend to be too loose, sloppy, not very good when you play rythm or fast and complex riffs as i prefer my strings a bit harder ( that`s why i use d`addario 0.10 - 0.52 )
    now my question and curiosity is,
    how much are you prepared to lose in terms of tone to have very low action?
    and is it normal that strings become a bit looser ?
    and also, ( sorry for the 3rd question )
    what is your action on the 12th fret ( on the low and high E )...
    mine is about 1.8 mm on the high and 2.0 mm on the low...
    can you post yours

    thanks in advance

  • #2
    to make strings a little bit stiffer and keep the gauge of strings you must add another spring in the tremolo cavity.

    I also posted in you previous post already so you should know action on my guitars...

    Comment


    • #3


      Wow...to me...that is high action!!

      My guitars hover around 1.5mm for the bass side and +/- 1mm for the E B G strings.

      My Les Paul is maybe .75mm ish....just insanely low

      Comment


      • #4
        I use .010s at the same height as you, eiopago. If I'm playing light & quick, I can get by lower, but with bluesy stuff, country stuff, or bangin' rhythm, it just buzzes too much (I play with clean & semi-clean settings a lot of the time). So this is the compromise I live with.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by LesPaulCustom
          My Les Paul is maybe .75mm ish....just insanely low

          Comment


          • #6
            High action (but not too high to hinder your playing style) and big strings are the keys to great tone. Especially on a Fender Stratocaster.

            I have a very difficult time playing guitars with super or insanely low action. I like to get under the string a little.

            Comment


            • #7
              I'll agree on high action, but bigger strings give you a different tone which is not necessarily better. I'm not sure exactly what it does but maybe bigger strings give you more of the fundamental note and less of the harmonics, resulting in a more neck-pickup-ish full tone.

              That's my guess after trying my strat with 9's, 11's, and 13's all tuned to standard. For metal I like the sound of 9's, blues the 11's, and clean jazz the 13's.

              I could just be insane though.

              Comment


              • #8
                Are you tune to standard tuning .

                Comment


                • #9
                  +1 on what thetroy said.

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X