Guitar action is an important aspect to consider, because string height above the fingerboard, influences the ease with which you can play. Though this is more of a personal taste and may vary from player to player, a High action usually is difficult to play, whereas a lower action is much easier to play. But then high-action makes the guitar sound buzz-free and also gives a higher volume. Lower action, on the other hand, is prone to buzzes, especially if you play aggressively. If you are a beginner then it really doesn’t matter much, but experienced players need to make a compromise between the two. Fortunately, you can adjust the action to suit your needs.
Good vs Bad Action
What you need is a guitar that is easily fretted and ideally that is quite responsive to your touch; you just want your fingers to fly on the guitar, though as a beginner it is not going to happen right away.
But then something that fits this criterion is considered to be a guitar with a good action. And a guitar with a bad action would be hard to fret and would really hurt your fingers when played for a longer session.
Guitar action simply means how easy a guitar’s strings are to fret. And it is not a small thing, because a badly strung guitar or one with the inappropriate action can give you really sore fingers if you played it for too long.
Low Action vs High Action
Couple of widely used terms (related to guitar action) are ‘high action’ and ‘low action’. These terms basically refer to how far the strings are laid from the fingerboard.
- If the strings are higher, and requires to be pushed down further to fret them, the guitar is said to have a higher action
- On the contrary, if the strings are closer to the fingerboard, then it is said to have a lower action
So what should you buy – a low action guitar or a high action guitar?
It is seen that most guitarists who are used to the electric guitar action, may not like the acoustic guitar action. And just because they’re used to a certain guitar action height, they might feel that the opposite is bad.
So for instance, those who play electric or acoustics with low action might say that high action is not appropriate for playing.
But the fact is that the various types are available so that players have variety and they can choose one that suits their requirements. So it is more of a personal preference.
Here are more characteristics of low and high action guitars:
In most budget guitars with lower action, you could encounter a negative side effect such as fret-buzz , which happens because the vibrating strings sometimes actually touch the frets which results in a buzzing sound.
Benefits of Using Acoustic Guitar with High Action
In one of our posts on guitar action, we mentioned how a low action guitar can be easier to play, especially if you are a beginner, but then there are some benefits of using a high action acoustic guitar as well.
Here are some of the benefits:
- A high action guitar avoids noise and buzzing as it is able to hide the neck and fret-board imperfections.
- It helps you to play slide guitar well.
- If you have been playing some some time now, you can strum really hard without having to worry about any noise/buzz.
- You should aim for the strings to be high enough so that no buzz occurs while playing, this helps preserve the guitars sustain and note clarity.
- Its best to get medium action (minimum amount of height without fretbuzz) as you get the best of both worlds.
Usually, when strings buzz against the frets, the tone clarity and sustain is lost. If you prefer fretting your strings gently, you may not get any buzz even when the action is low. But if you like hitting the strings hard, then the buzz is definitely going to interfere with the tone.
The downside to a high action guitar are:
- The guitar can be hard to play
- Bending the high string toward the fretboard can cause the pitch to vary (sound out of tune) on the fretted notes.
- High action also causes added strain to the guitars neck
- In case you’ve installed a magnetic pickup, a very high action may keep the strings out of its range
Most of the time Fret buzz can be controlled using your fingers as its a matter of applying the right strength and playing with precision, however you can’t expect that from a novice player. That is why every new guitar player gets fret buzz, and it comes back every time you speed up or move up a position in learning. With more practice, the height of the action is a matter of personal taste. Learning on a high action guitar can be great, if you can work through the hard part though.
If you’re not comfortable with the high action, you can get it lowered (easy to do as the bridge is a separate piece and the head can be grooved) but its advisable that you wait at-least for a couple of months and see how the learning goes on the high action guitar.
How to Lower Action on Acoustic Guitar
Why you may want to lower the action on your Guitar and ways to do it.
Why Lower Guitar Action
This is an important aspect to consider, because string height above the fingerboard, does influence the ease with which you can play.
Though this is more of a personal taste and may vary from player to player, a High action usually is difficult to play, whereas a lower action is much easier to play.
Here are some more reasons why you may want the guitar action to be lowered.
If you have played on an electric before, or have been playing an a high action acoustic for some time and are uncomfortable with the action, lowering the action can be a good option so that it suits your playing style.
But then high-action makes the guitar sound buzz-free and also gives a higher volume. Lower action, on the other hand, is prone to buzzes, especially if you play aggressively.
If you are a beginner then it really doesn’t matter much, but experienced players need to make a compromise between the two.
Fortunately, you can adjust the action to suit your needs.
How to Lower Guitar Action
Lowering the action puts the strings of the guitar closer to the fretboard, makeing it easier for the fingers to play the guitar. Another alternative is to use lighter (thinner gauge) strings. So for an acoustic, you can probably use .011 or .010 “extra-light”, “super-light” etc. strings.
But why do some guitars have a higher action? It depends. You can read more about it here.
Most mass produced acoustic guitars are actually manufactured at far-off places and the temperature variation during transport can cause some distortion within the guitars wooden body, and that’s why the neck will still be as per the factory setting and almost flat to compensate for the strings tension.
However, you can take the same guitar that come from the store/factory and adjust its action. Basically, you need adjust the truss rod to a straight neck, and file down the height of the bridge. You’ll need to take a technicians help to do this.
Here’s a video that shows how to lower the action on your Acoustic guitar:
Closing Thoughts
As you can see, the action does influence to some extent what you want to play. In case you already own a guitar, and now after reading this article, you feel that you should have chosen a different action because you have to press the strings down too far, then you don’t have to worry. You can now avoid getting sore fingers; just take it to a music shop and get the guitar action adjustment done. If you are a beginner, you want to choose a Guitar Action that provides a balance between ease of play-ability and quality of sound.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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