I have a weird 1987 Squier strat that I've slowly been bringing back to life. It has a very thin, skinny Gibson scale neck, dual humbucker, with a Kahler bridge. It's a fun guitar to play. There were parts missing which I had to track down. I got it playable but didn't like the pickups. The neck was a stock Fender humbucker. The bridge had been upgraded to an EMG. I had a set of Gibson 490R/490T that I took out of an SG. I put them in the strat. They are awesome, way better than they sounded in the SG. I spent several hours setting the guitar up with some 9-42 strings. I got the action super low with no buzz. The light strings with the Gibson scale felt so nice. Bends were insane. Last night I took it to a jam at a local bar. Between me and two other players it got steady use for about three hours. Through my Vox the sound was incredible. It was fun to sit in the audience and hear how good my rig sounded. Over the course of the night it seemed to need tuning a lot. The tuners are Gotoh and have never been a problem. It started to get a bit of fret buzz. Suddenly it was unplayable. The strings were laying on the neck. The relief on the neck was way off with a bit of back bow. I packed up and went home. Today I pulled it out of the case and everything was fine. I'm guessing the neck is so skinny that the temperature/humidity difference and heavy use caused the relief to change. If I hadn't set the action so low it would have been fine. The tone was so good and the neck is so fast I'm going to give it a bit more forward bow and raise the action to try it again.
Kerry Brown
Learned a lesson about too low an action.
I think guitar string height should be directly related to the type of player who is using it.
If you have a heavy touch, setting the strings higher is a must.
If you play with a very soft touch, then a lower action is going to be just fine.
G.
If you have a heavy touch, setting the strings higher is a must.
If you play with a very soft touch, then a lower action is going to be just fine.
G.
I tend to like my action higher than most--not into cheese slicer territory--I find it helps with bending--especially on guitars with lower frets.
Let us know if it works out.
Let us know if it works out.
It's funny. "Low action" generally seems to be portrayed as a positive thing. However, MOST people would benefit from higher action. A large percentage of players don't see the relationship between how delicate/rough your touch is and the action. I prefer my action on the higher side as well...but then, I tend to hammer on the strings quite a bit.
Agreed. I've learned that I sound better with a high action, I get a lot of unwanted noises with a low action due to my less-than-gentle touch.
Nathan
Nathan
I don't want high or low action. I want it low enough that I'm not gripping the neck, and I want it high enough that nothing frets out when I put some power into a picking movement. So far so good!
Kerry, maybe it shifted due to the way others were playing it?
Kerry, maybe it shifted due to the way others were playing it?
What happened was the neck reacted to the heat/humidity in the room, and to the different player's hands.
It's a common experience with light oil finished necks.
To correct it you would have to finish the neck. Seal it up tight.
Options range from Tung oil (commonly used on rifle stocks to seal/waterproof) to polyurethane.
After being sealed the neck will resist flexing with humidity and heavy playing.
Have fun
It's a common experience with light oil finished necks.
To correct it you would have to finish the neck. Seal it up tight.
Options range from Tung oil (commonly used on rifle stocks to seal/waterproof) to polyurethane.
After being sealed the neck will resist flexing with humidity and heavy playing.
Have fun
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