How low should the action be on a Strat?

Treetop Flyer · 29th June 2009, 11:58am

I've got this Strat copy and it's been set up quite well but I can't help feeling the action is still high. I had the frets stoned and dressed, the height from the 12th fret to the bottom of the bass E string is 3mm.

My mate has an Ibanez with tremolo and the action on that is low all the way up the neck, like it's almost the same at the first fret as it is at the 12th

guitarmankris · 29th June 2009, 2:02pm

http://www.fender.co.uk/support/setup_guides.php

That'll give you pretty much everything you need.

A strat copy will be different from a strat, though, in terms of setup.

SRV used to play with crazy action and a set of 13's, so there's no one specific setup for a strat.

Treetop Flyer · 29th June 2009, 2:33pm

Thanks. That says 2mm so maybe it is high. I just presumed that if the neck was straight and the frets were level then the action could be put really low. On the other hand though, when you mention SRV, you can get a bit more feel from the strings when you have to dig in. His fingers were on steroids though, I want an easier life. Have you ever tried 13s? You need steel finger tips. I think I might drop to 9s from 10s. I don't mind playing 12s on my acoustic but on the electric it's the bends that become impossible

**Kenny Everett** · 29th June 2009, 6:05pm

Try a set of hybrid gauge strings, heavier on the bass strings and lighter on the treble side. Means you get the best of both worlds; sounds good for rhythm work and easy to bed the high notes.

Don't have your action too low or else you'll end up with horrible buzzing, the strings will choke when you bend and the guitar won't tune correctly either.

Treetop Flyer · 29th June 2009, 6:12pm

I understand the buzzing part but why would the action affect the tuning? As I said I normally play acoustic but I read that buzzing doesn't actually effect the sound of an electric once the signal has went through the amp. It is not nice to hear though when it's unplugged. Easy to bed the high notes, once a rock star always a rock star

**Kenny Everett** · 29th June 2009, 6:15pm

If the action's not right, it's a pain in the arse to get the thing to intonate properly. Plus, the strings will end up too close to the pickups and cause all sorts of magnetic issues.

Strats are a bastard to stay in tune at the best of times:P

Treetop Flyer · 29th June 2009, 6:30pm

I'm curious to why it would affect intonation because that's all about the distance from the nut to the bridge isn't it, the height of the strings is different? You can always lower pickups. Although Strats are the best guitars one thing I did notice is it's harder to bend strings on them than Les Pauls. I have a Les Paul copy that belongs to a mate and it is quite easy to bend strings on that compared. After some reading I found out it's because they have different scale lengths, the Les Paul having the shorter one so to get the same pitch the strings don't need the same amount of tension. The tremolo makes up for it. Did Gibson ever make a Les Paul with a tremolo?

**Kenny Everett** · 29th June 2009, 7:00pm

They've done the odd variant over the years, but it's never been a standard production model. You used to be able to get one in the early 1980's with a Kahler trem, some special models have a Floyd. In my own opinion, you shouldn't tamper with perfection and trem systems should be kept away from Les Pauls

Treetop Flyer · 29th June 2009, 7:09pm

If you haven't played one with a tremolo you don't know, maybe you would like it. Having a tremolo gives you access to a lot of dynamics. Last night watching Jeff Beck, the things he was doing with just slight movements of the tremolo, it didn't seem right you can make one note do all that, and a harmonic note at that

**Kenny Everett** · 29th June 2009, 7:11pm

Nope, played many Les Pauls with trems.. I owned one at one point.

I just felt it wasn't for me, it totally killed the tone and the sustain to my ears.

Treetop Flyer · 29th June 2009, 7:14pm

I've heard that before, the hard tail has a better sustain. But who wants to listen to your long notes? A bit of whammy in there gets the crowd going

**Kenny Everett** · 29th June 2009, 7:15pm

Whole thing feels...wrong. The poin of a Les Paul is that it sounds like a Les Paul to me, each to their own though. Plenty of other good tricks to charm audiences with

Treetop Flyer · 29th June 2009, 7:25pm

Yeah it is true you don't need tricks, just a tune. Is the PRS the new Les Paul? Santana was a famous LP player and he's changed to PRS, is that through sponsorship?

TheFallenAngel · 4th July 2009, 10:43pm

I think Santana was more famous for using a Yamaha SG if I'm not mistaken.

Action depends a lot on the fretboard radius.
Guitars like Ibanez and Jackson have totally different necks so its impossible to get anywhere near like that unless you have the neck totally customised.

Treetop Flyer · 9th August 2009, 12:09pm

I had a look at the shim that was put in it and it's quite thin so I used some paper to adjust it, four pages of normal A4 thickness cut to the same shape of the shim and now the action is almost perfect but buzzing everywhere aarrrggh. I think the neck might actually be bent because the normal test of truss rod straightness (holding down the bass E string at the 17th fret and 1st fret) produces a small gap at the 5th fret which is correct and when I play the F note it rings true but if I play the F note an octave up it buzzes out. It's quite dissapointing because it's so good to play now, apart from string bends being a bit rough. Keep forgetting to buy that guitar repair book

Advertisement