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I've lowered my action at the 12th fret to 0.7mm Bass and 0.5mm Treble on my Tele copy.
This seems to be the lowest action I can get without effecting the sound coming out of the Amp.
Yes, the guitar has slight buzz if I play the Tele unplugged, but thru an amp it seems to make very little difference in sound.
I have a light touch and pick with fingers no nails. 0.7mm Bass and 0.5mm Treble at the 12th fret seems ok on a solid body guitar.
How Low Can You Go?
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05-31-2026 05:16 AM
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It depends on the type of strings and how you play.
If the frets of your guitar neck have not a good set up - then there is a problem.
I use thick strings, but I'm not a really fan of low action.
I have a strong string attack and I'm sure the string plays cleanly.
Strat- bass string/6/-2,5mm.trebble/1/-2 mm at 12 fret.
Strings Rotosound flat 12s.
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Guy, what string gauge do you have on your Tele?
I have roundwound .011-.047 and my action is 1.5mm bass, 1 mm treble at the 17th fret.
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Eastman AR503, Thomastic js113 jazz swing 13-53: action (between 14°-15°): low E 1.1 mm; high E 1 mm
I play only with fingers (no nails) and with gentle touch.
No buzz at all, but the tone it's slightly affected (I don't know if it's only a matter of pshicoacoustic
)
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I've have TI Swing flats 12's.
Originally Posted by jamesego
But, I've change the three treble strings to plain 22p, 18p, 16p.
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The two top strings touch the bridge pickup.
I'll get my coat.
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Ive gone in circles with this on my archtop. I can get lower but even without buzz it starts sounding really closed up.
I imagine that is not much of an issue on a solid body
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I noticed that with extreme low action the strings and guitar lose a lot of sound.
When playing fingerstyle, you can lose articulation controls.
You have to be sensitive to it.
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On my tele clone I use D'Addario NYXL 11 - 50 strings. My relief is currently at 0.007" at the 8th fret. I get annoyed with any buzzing. To avoid that I have to go with action no lower than 4/64" (~1.6 mm) on trebles and 4.5/64" (~1.8 mm) on bass strings.
As a point of reference, Fender factory spec is 0.010" relief at 8th fret and action of 4/64" (both bass and treble) at 17th fret. I'm sure they suggest that setup to ensure that players with limited finesse get minimal buzzing.
I might be able to get away with a little lower action if I increased the relief and/or used heavier guage strings. But, even with that, I couldn't get anywhere close to as low as GuyBoden does unless I learned to play with a much less ham-fisted approach than I currently employ!
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I always use a little gap of space between my low and high E strings at around the seventh fret. And set my height from there on my guitars.
Acoustics mostly but electrics always sound better with higher string action. But it also depends on your touch as a player as well.
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I have a solid body which has an action of approx. e1 1.2 mm and E6 1.2 mm. This is with TI 10-44. I play with both pick and fingers which works well. The guitar was purchased as a B model, and I do all my luthier work myself, I am hoping to lower the action a slight bit with further work. This works well for my needs. I have pondered getting thicker strings but at 80 yrs my hands are not getting any stronger so I have not yet decided on that but if my hands can take it that could also aid lowering the strings some.
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I'll make a prediction that as you get older,low action will be preferable vs not playing at all or playing with pain.Those negatives you listed i haven't found to be true with low action. Originally Posted by kris
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I have always preferred my action to be LAPWOB (Low as possible without buzzing). I have found that some guitars can get incredibly low action if set up properly. On other guitars, either the neck straightness or fretwork prevents me from getting the action as low as I like, but I can still generally get them "low enough".
I do recognize that the action has to be a bit higher on an acoustic guitar if you want to play with a powerful right hand, But there is never a need for "cheese cutter" action unless you are playing rhythm guitar in a big band without the benefit of an amp.
And to get my action super low, I set my guitars up with minimal neck relief. And I keep my frets highly polished. Furthermore, worn strings (divots and corrosion) need to be avoided.
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In my experience, a lower action makes the guitar easier on the hands.
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I noticed because I have a very strong attack on the strings /right hand/. Originally Posted by nyc chaz
I play a lot on classical guitar with hard strings.I don't like low action - it annoys me and I don't feel comfortable with the guitar.
Maybe I'm just different.
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I thought so too and experimented with low action. Originally Posted by GuyBoden
In my experience, a lower action makes the guitar easier on the hands.
It doesn't suit my way of hitting my fingers.
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It depends on the guitar you are playing. Any acoustic guitar that is set up primarily for acoustic cannot be really super low and sound good. You steal the sound of the guitar, but I don't want to fight it. That said 5/64 on low E and 4/64 high and then just a touch below this that is not quite measurable but a slight turn of the wheel. If you are playing only electric all bets are off whatever you can get to if that is your goal. Remember I hate the sound of Stanley Jordan so if you go that low you get what I call the tap sound even on an electric.
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1988 Strat, nice worn frets Originally Posted by GuyBoden
I've lowered my action at the 12th fret to 0.7mm Bass and 0.5mm Treble on my Tele copy.
This seems to be the lowest action I can get without effecting the sound coming out of the Amp.
Yes, the guitar has slight buzz if I play the Tele unplugged, but thru an amp it seems to make very little difference in sound.
I have a light touch and pick with fingers no nails. 0.7mm Bass and 0.5mm Treble at the 12th fret seems ok on a solid body guitar.
How Low Can You Go?
at the 12th fret:
string to fret = 1.8mm both
string to wood = 2.5mm both
that means my frets are .7mm high,
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That's about where I set mine usually, but I just got back two guitars and they are somewhat closer (haven't measured). One was even pleased, so it's really straight. I find that if I dig in a bit for an accent, sometimes the strings sustain less, because they are not as free to vibrate. Originally Posted by deacon Mark
So I will probably raise those actions a bit.
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That is almost exactly where mine are set. The treble side is a hair lower. If I go much lower on the bass it doesnt sound good. I tried to like it becuase lower is more comfortable but I wasnt crazy about the trade off. I dropped string gauge from 13s to 12 and kept those settings.
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Everything is a compromise (possibly *everything* is a compromise, not just string height on a guitar).
Generally speaking, I set all of my electric guitars for the action to be 4/64" at the 12th fret with .010" relief at the 7th fret. I've used that setup for more than 40 years with .010s, .011s and .012s. It's comfortable (which may really just mean "familiar"), it tolerates a little wear on the strings and frets without becoming buzzy. I've got a couple of guitars I can get the string height a little below 4/64" but then there might be one spot that buzzes very slightly and it drives me nuts. I notice when the seasonal variation raises the action to 5/64" by feel and if the action drops to 3/64" then I tend to hear it more than feel it. One of the things I really appreciate about archtop guitars is how easy that is to adjust.
The main benefit that I find in having low action is that it improves intonation, which is a bugaboo of mine, and the lower action is a little easier with the left hand. However, at 66 I haven't lost enough hand strength yet that this is critical. 10 years from now, who knows? 4 of my 7 electric guitars currently have .012s on them, the rest .011s. I never seem to bend more than a half-step so I don't even really notice the different string thicknesses.
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I do 4/64 at the high E and around 6/64 at the low E. I don't know the relief.
I find that the slimmest neck possible is easiest on my hands. The limiting issue isn't sound quality, it's not inadvertently damping strings because there isn't enough room for my fingers.
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I always found too low stringheight is a perfect tone killer. Strings need to „breathe“ to generate the desired tone and I guess a super low action stops unplayed strings from „dancing“ around the tone you‘re playing, if that makes sense. The string height on my guitars is generally 1.6 mm on the low and 1.5 mm on the high E, measured at the 12th fret.
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I like VERY little relief, almost none, and a low action. As long as the neck/fretboard itself is good and straight, I've never had a problem with it.
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But once you get used to that: If someone hands you their git and says "Hey play something." and they have 1/8" or so at 12, you're in trouble. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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