Re: high action?!?

On Oct 29, 4:49 pm, sheets <jackzuc...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Oct 29, 4:04 pm, Stan Fong <skingf...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Oct 29, 3:58 am, sheets <jackzuc...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

After playing with Mark Kleinhaut and hearing how great he sounds,
I've raised the action on all my guitars. I used to like it low and
slinky but now I'm realizing (again) the virtues of having high
action.

Anyone else doing this?

Low action is comfortable and easier on the hands. High action gives
you more tone and dynamics which allows you to dig in. I compromise
between the extremes and like medium action in general. It also
depends on the guitar. Flattops and strictly acoustic archtops are
usually set up with higher action. Freddie Green was one who had high
action

Stan, you hit the nail on the head. Dynamics is the key. You cannot
achieve the full dynamic range of the instrument with low action. High
action is part of what gives Martino and Benson the particular sound
they have.

Regarding the different strokes comment...Of course. That goes without
saying. Holdsworth being a prime example. It's art so you can't over-
generalize or make blanket statements but in general, you definitely
get more tone out of the instrument with higher action if you are
playing cleanly. I heard a clip a while back of Joe Diorio playing
with Scott Henderson. Both were playing clean but Scott had his
shredder axe and it just sounded awful with a clean tone and playing
standards. Of course, if they played a fusion tune at high vol, it
would have sounded fantastic and Diorio would have sounded bad.

I'm just sayin...

Fatter strings play into the mix as well. I'm sure Clarence White
plays bluegrass on that Martin with the Kentucky Colonels with pretty
high action and pretty fat strings. I have found you can get a fat
sound with heavy strings even if the action is medium. Just gotta
caress the string the right way with the pick.

Holdsworth still gets the best sound though, even on acoustic, and he
uses pretty thin strings.

.

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