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August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | I was wondering how some of you have the action set up on your guitars? I like mine really slinky-- I try for 3/32" clearance at the 12th fret with light-gague D'addario's. I just got a CS 257 that's almost 2/16"; I wouldn't mind if it was a little lower on the high frets, but so far it hasn't been a problem. I play a gig tonight and two tomorrow, so I'm gonna know by Sunday morning if I want to try to lower it. Anyway, just out of curiosity, I wondered how some of you do set-ups? |
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March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | I can get along fine with light guage strings 12 to 53s and no shims. I can't see well enough to do the measurements with any accuracy. Any lighter guage than that get a fret buzz on the low E. I fingerpick 90% of the time. If I did a lot of strumming, I'd probably have to put a shim in or go to medium guage strings.
When I got the 87, it had mediums, but had a fret buzz on the high E string around the 14th fret. I adjusted the truss rod a quarter, but it turned out one of the frets was a little high. I tapped it down with a hammer and put the 1818s on it and it's like magic. |
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | low
very low
stupid low
low as only an Ovation can go low |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Well I typically take out all the shims but one and run 12's or 13's on all my guitars. Gives me a nice low action across the board.
It does seem that lowering the action tends to steal some of the tone....hence the heavier strings to make up the difference.
Is this my imagination or have others also noticed this? |
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March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | I think you're right, but I have more variation in the tone from whether I hit the string with my fingernail or whether I hit it with one where I chewed the fingernail off. |
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January 2004
Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | I actually like my action just a bit on the high side, at least 3/32. I am a fairly agressive and percussive strummer, if the action is too low, the buzzing becomes unacceptable. Same for lead solo's, if the action is too low buzzing results, and I think buzzing sounds like garbage.
I've also long been a proponent of medium gauge strings, you generally get better tone and more volume. And with either slightly higher action or heavier strings most people will adapt to the extra effort. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | what Brian said...
Though on the Lowden, i use light gauge. With mediums the thing would be outta control. |
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January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | Depends on the type of sound you're looking for and style of playing. On my 1777LX, I use the medium strings, action not too low. That produces a deeper, more tonal sound. Like the folky Martin sound. On my 1868T, light guage, low action for flat pick leads, like an electric.
Too low an action, does lose tone. I agree with Brian, on the medium strings for sound. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | You understood what Brain said :confused: :eek: :confused: :cool: |
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Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | You understood what Brain said :confused: :eek: :confused: :cool: |
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January 2004
Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | I like to tune my guitars 1/2 step down to an Eb tuning. I use d'adarrio lights on my 12 string with 3/32 clearance at the 12th fret. I have the action set up the same way on my 6 string, but I noticed some intonation problems and buzz on the B (or A# in my case) string. I solved the problem by using a .017 instead of the .016 that come with the light set. |
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August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | Interesting-- a wide variety of preferences. Like Mark, I do a lot of fingerpicking and fingerstrumming, or "backpicking." Low action works well for this. On the songs I need to do higher-speed strumming on, I use a Fred Kelly "speedpick," a special thumbpick that uses a very thin, narrow strumming tab instead of the thick, wide blade that's on a standard thumbpick. It has a really light touch and you can get percussive and dig in without buzzing, even though the action's low. If I want an even lighter touch, I cut the tab off a thumbpick and mount a standard Jim Dunlop .38 mm light gauge nylon pick on it with velcro. This is for songs where you're just doing straight strumming without worrying about hitting bass notes, like most of Gordon Lightfoot's 12-string songs and a lot of Eagles' tunes. You get a nice, light, airy sound and you can strum a thousand miles an hour. As far as tone issues caused by adding or removing shims goes, it's not too big of a deal since the guitar is always amplified. If I need to play acoustic, I take my bigmouth deep bowl Balladeer, which will outshout just about any other guitar on the block. |
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Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | You understood what Brain said?
Let me explain (in Australian) , if your cables has too much zoomin over the limey scorns, often an undesirable honkin futz can result with puts pints into your britches and makes your feet itch. So don’t get your knickers in a knot over some broad’s white rat. Clear? |
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Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Ahhhhhhh, now I get it...Crystal clear explanation mate.
THANKS BrianT |
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December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | And Bob's yer Uncle, there.
My LX's are set a skosh above low. |
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March 2005
Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | Two shims. One thin, one thick. Take most of the Relief outa the neck. Play 1818's or another good 12-53ish set of strings. Not too high for fast fingerwork, not too low for a big strummin' good time!! :D |
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October 2005
Posts: 803
Location: Avondale, AZ | Mine are electrics. I don't worry about shims. I lower the action and adjust the neck. They are all low and fast. The strings don't resist my fingers. |
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July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | I use .012"-.053" lights on my 6-strings and .010"-.047" on my 12-strings....I like the action to be near the low side of Ovation specs, but I've found that below that, I will get string buzz on the higher frets.
I can't standardize on number of shims....I've found that my guitars vary....I have to do it by using a feeler gauge and checking height to the specs. I've made shims from strip plastic (to get a custom thickness between, or even LESS, than the factory shims) to get the action right on a couple of mine.
Roger |
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Posts: 8
Location: big bear lake | Low action with medium gauge strings and mandolin picks |
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July 2002
Posts: 1900
| A light to med-light mix...
.013
.017
.026
.030
.039
.047
With one shim, the action on the 1767 allows a D standard tuning with no buzz. I finger-pick mostly. |
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August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | Well, there were 4 shims in the CS 257. I took 3 of them out and it plays like a dream-- the tone wasn't affected at all. And there's no buzz. It may not be an Adamas, but it's a really nice guitar! |
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April 2006
Posts: 1138
Location: CT | Originally posted by stephent28:
Well I typically take out all the shims but one and run 12's or 13's on all my guitars. Gives me a nice low action across the board.
It does seem that lowering the action tends to steal some of the tone....hence the heavier strings to make up the difference.
I would think removing shims would give more direct contact between the strings and the soundboard. The fewer gaps to steal vibration, the more resonant the top, right? |
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March 2002
Posts: 15678
Location: SoCal | No. The better the break (the higher the saddle, to a point), the harder the saddle in pressed down to the top and the better the vibration is transferred to the top. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | he speaks the truth. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | 3 to 3 1/2 32nds on the bass and 2 to 2 1/2 32nds on the treble.
Of course with all this f#@king rain everything is soaking up the humidity and things are moving all over the place. Some go up some go down and the Nationals are starting to rust. I'm going back to Florida for a vacation from this vacation. |
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HOW'S THE ACTION ON YOUR GUITAR(S)?
