Is it easier to achieve a low action with thicker strings?

[omphalopsychos]

Actually w/ lighter gauge strings you can get lower action by extending the scale length by a few extra inches so instead of 25.5 inches maybe 30.5 inches. A longer scale length allows for lighter strings & brighter tone. For a guitar to work perfectly w/ ultra-light strings, its scale length would have to be 3 feet longer than it currently is.

Who are you even talking to????


I feel like a Google Home or Amazon Echo got hold of a JGF account and nobody knows how to turn it off.

[s11141827]

Who are you even talking to????


I feel like a Google Home or Amazon Echo got hold of a JGF account and nobody knows how to turn it off.

Actually i figured it out. Lighter gauge strings work better on a longer scale length. So why can't we just use lighter gauge strings on an Archtop Guitar by extending its scale length by 5 extra inches (e.g. cutting off the old neck & putting on a 30.5 inch scale conversion neck?)

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

My Guitar has frets that have been shaved down flush w/ the Fretboard so I can use lighter strings & lower action.

As a wise man once said, you can’t have fret buzz without frets.

Actually i figured it out. Lighter gauge strings work better on a longer scale length.

They don’t “work better”. They develop higher tension than they do tuned to the same pitch on a shorter scale. This reduces their travel as they vibrate, so they don’t come as close to the frets and permit lower buzz free action. But long scales also have drawbacks and compromises, so it’s not all roses.

[sgosnell]

Guitar bodies are designed and made for a particular scale length. If you put a 30.5" neck on a standard archtop, the bridge will have to be moved to achieve good intonation, and there might not be enough room on the top to place the bridge in an acceptable location. Sawing off the neck is simply not done, unless by a clueless hack. A set neck can be removed, but it's somewhat delicate work, and a new neck would have to be fitted to the dovetail in the body. It would be an expensive modification. Plus, with a scale length that long, the string tension would be very high, perhaps too high even using .008 strings, which break somewhat easily when stretched to too much tension. The cheapest, easiest, and by far the best solution is just to use heavier strings with the existing scale, whatever it may be.