There are significant differences between the way that most acoustic and electric guitars are played. The height at which the strings sit above the fingerboard is a critical factor in how aggressively the guitar can be played. Here, we’ll take a look at some of the considerations you should keep in mind when setting the action on your guitar and how best to go about it. Higher string settings will allow for more forceful strumming while maintaining a high degree of clarity and crispness of the notes, while lower settings will tend to quickly generate severe fret buzz when fortissimo passages are called for.Īs with almost everything else guitar related, there are significant differences between how the action on electric and acoustic guitars should be set. The height at which the strings sit above the fingerboard is also a critical factor in how aggressively the guitar can be played. On the other hand, setting strings too low results in the dreaded “fret buzz,” where the strings vibrate against unplayed frets, resulting in the typical buzzy sound that so many older or poorly maintained guitars are known for. Particularly high-set strings are generally considered by players to be cumbersome and uncomfortable to deal with. So if action has a more broad definition when referring to other instruments, why is a guitar’s action defined in terms of the height that the strings rest above the fretboard? Well, because this is one of the most principal factors in defining both how the guitar feels and how it sounds.
At Stringjoy, we tend to look at the action at the 12th fret, but if you’re more comfortable using a different reference point, that’s fine too. Experts differ in their opinions about which fret is best to measure string height from, with most saying that measuring from between the 8th and the 12th fret, is the best. A guitar’s action does more than just determine how it plays Guitar Action at the 12th fret of a Fender StratocasterĪ guitar’s action is defined principally in terms of the height at which the strings sit above a given fret. Finding the right action for you and your instrument is the key to getting your guitar or bass sounding, playing, and feeling the way you want. For guitar players, the term action can similarly be used to describe the general feel of the instrument when played, but it also has a much more precise definition-the height of the individual strings.Īs we’ll talk about below, string height plays a critical role not just in the feel of the strings but also in the way that the guitar actually sounds. For the piano and other keyboard-based instruments, action simply refers to the feel of the keys under the fingers.
0 kommentar(er)
