A Guide To Guitar Action
Ever wondered how people achieve that clarity at high volumes? Wondering what the next step is in branching out into your own sound? Or just struggling to get a good sound out of your first guitar? Whatever your goal, adjusting your guitar action is a great skill to have.
What is Guitar Action?
Guitar action refers to the distance between the top of the guitar’s frets and the bottom of its strings. Your guitar’s “action” plays a crucial role in how easy it is for you to fret each note, as well as how aggressively you can play before you begin to experience fret buzz.
Ultimately, your taste and playing style will dictate the string height you want, but keeping some target numbers in mind is still a good idea.
Why is Guitar Action Important?
The main reason for adjusting your guitar action is to achieve a better, more interesting sound. We mentioned earlier how changing your fret-string distance can reduce the buzzing sound from your fret when you play.
However, another advantage of adjusting your guitar action is that it can make your guitar easier for you to play. Modifying the area you use allows you easier access to a better sound.
How to Measure Guitar Action
Guitar action is always a tradeoff between getting the action as low as possible while simultaneously aiming to avoid fret buzz and other unwanted distortions. To measure your guitar action, you’ll need a ruler and plenty of light to see what you are doing. You may also use a neck cradle or towel to support your guitar while measuring it.
To measure a Stratocaster-style guitar - or similar guitar with an adjustable saddle - for each string, you will have to measure each of your strings individually. However, if you have a Les Paul-style - or other fixed bridge guitar - the radius can’t be changed. So, you only need to measure the high and low E strings.
Have your guitar securely held in the playing position to get the most accurate measurement.
Hold your ruler flat on the top of the 12th fret between the 6th (E) and 5th (A) strings. Next, slide your ruler up to the 6th (low E) string so that it now touches the string but won’t move it.
Measure the space between the top of your fret and the bottom of your string.
When confident in your measurement of this string, continue with the rest of your strings.
Low action, no buzz
This is one of the most popular custom guitar action setups and yet, is one of the most subjective. After all, what’s low for one guitarist may be too high for another to play comfortably.
As well as this, the lower the strings are to your frets, the more likely you are to get fret buzz - though this isn’t necessarily a problem for everyone.
First, tune your guitar to pitch. Then, check your neck relief has been properly adjusted.
To prevent the nut height from being a factor in your measurements, you may like to install a capo. Since this thus lowers your measurement, if you do this, be sure to repeat this next time you set up.
Get a standard ruler and place it on your 12th fret. Check that the ruler ticks are parallel to the string. This helps you accurately measure the gap from the top of your fret to the bottom of the low E- string.
How Do I Know If I Need to Change Guitar Action
We mentioned earlier how experiencing fret buzz is one of the main factors that drives a musician to change their guitar action. However, intonation problems, like your guitar always sounding flat or sharp, as well as other string issues like rattling or shaking can also be a factor.
How to Adjust Guitar Action
The method you use to adjust your guitar action varies depending on your guitar type. Here we’ll look at two popular brands of guitar, which can be used as a guide for the style of guitar that is most similar to yours:
Adjusting a Gibson bridge
You’ll need to measure your Gibson’s action at the 12th fret before deciding whether you want to raise or lower its string height.
For most bridges, you adjust the height by turning the slot-head screw on the bridge post. Make sure you tune your guitar back to pitch before taking further measurements. You may have a different bridge style.
Enjoy experimenting and finding your ideal playing height! A good rule of thumb is setting your treble action 1/64th of an inch lower on the treble side.
This is also an excellent time to set the height of your stopbar tailpiece. Be aware that lowering your stopbar makes your string tension tighter.
Adjusting a Fender bridge
First, raise or lower the saddle height of your Low E-string. Then, make sure you’re using the correct wrench size.
Adjust both of your set screws and re-tune your guitar to pitch. Then, take another action measurement at the 12th fret. If you like, try playing that string to see if you find it more playable. If you are happy with it, measure the action height and adjust the rest of your strings to the same distance. This gives you the correct radius.
Since the treble strings have a tighter vibrational pattern and need less clearance, many guitarists like to have a slightly lower action on these strings. If this is something you’re interested in trying, set your 1st (high E) string 1/64th of an inch lower than your 6th (low E) string. You can then set your strings with a radius gauge or try cascading your measurements from tallest to lowest.
Why Guitar Action Can Impact Your Playing Style & Ability
So, guitar action is not only an interesting way to produce new sounds with your guitar, but is a great way to make learning guitar easier, as well as a way to develop your own style and find out what works for you. Being able to adjust guitar action also opens you up to new ways of playing, since now your guitar can work well with an amplifier and other accessories.
If you are looking to learn guitar, or even find similar ways to improve guitar playing ability, then get in contact with me to see how I can help you.
