Re: Begineers question on Guitar action ?


"Dave" <Davel@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:pv7o945jtvk4298v9ovrhllb45gbe26tj0@xxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:37:22 +0100, Dave <Davel@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi

Hope this is not a stupid question, I am a begineer to guitar.

The strings on the old acoustic I have been given are 1mm above the
fret on the nut end of the fingerboard but about 6mm above the fret at
the body end.

I have recently looked at two electric guitars in a shop and these
also seem to have "a sloping fingerboard".

Is this correct, should the strings have the same clearance all the
way along the finerboard, if not, what is normal.

TIA


Dave

I think I did ask a partiality stupid question. Of course the
fingerboard has to have some slope, otherwise the strings would buzz -
hit the other frets.

But the sensible part of the question still stands, what would be a
reasonable clearance be at, say, the 12th fret. I think 6mm about 7/32
is a bit high ?.

Dave

6mm at the 12th fret is way too high. I use about 1.6 to 1.8mm, and find 2mm
starting to feel too high. 1mm at the first fret also sounds very high. You
test this by pressing the string down between the 2nd and 3rd fret, and look
at the gap between the string and the 1st fret - it should be barely
discernable (about the thickness of ordinary writing paper), any more is too
high and will make fretting on the low frets very difficult.

FWIW, if the action is that high, the guitar might not be fixable for normal
playing, but you should have it checked by a tech if you are interested in
playing it.

Tony D


.

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