Height of your strings!!!

[stephen sawall]

High enough to play slide...very high.

 

[Mudder]

I have all my guitars set so they're as low as they can go without buzz, which means they all vary a little bit. I think on average I can just slide a dime between the string and fret.

 

[MississippiMetal]

.063in on E2, .079in on E4.

 

[MississippiMetal]

I go by feel these days, but it's around 0.003'' to 0.005'' around the 7th to 9th frets. I measure the G string these days, too. A Plek machine is not needed for lower action, either. Just like everything else, it's simply a tool. Anderson does it by hand, Suhr uses a Plek machine. Both methods work great.

A Plek is only as effective as the person using it. You can get a crappy Plek job if the operator isn't experienced and skilled at using it.

 

[Code001]

Hence why I said it's simply a tool.

 

[MississippiMetal]

Hence why I said it's simply a tool.

My post was just an addendum to your point for readers.

 

[timeroo]

I am sitting at 2mm on low and 1.5 on high. Anything lower than that and it exposes the subtle flaws in the fretboard and buzzes a bunch. I have CTS so I need low low action and I would like to get it a pinch lower than it is now but I would be sacrificing sound.

What's a usual "shredder" action supposed to be like haha

 

[Rayneman]

I use 9.5 gauge in Eb and often have trouble getting to 1.5mm (@12th either side) without some type of buzz on the lower (toward the headstock) frets. I struggle with action all the time, and since I use fucking floyd or floyd-type bridges almost exclusively its hard to get it perfect. Some guitars are just fine, others I struggle with. I used to hang all my guitars on the walls of my basement, it looked absolutely awesome and it was so easy to grab one to play. I've since switched to keeping them in their cases and have found I have to screw around with the necks/bridges less often...perhaps the combo of hanging them and the fluctuations of heat/cold (not extreme) and humidity wreaked some havok.

 

[timeroo]

Yah mine are in their cases when not being played, hanging them is no good especially where I live because the climate has extremes on both ends of the spectrum plus lots of humid and then dry and then hot then cold fluctuations. No duct in the cases either since I am usually playing my UV anyways. The others are just for recording mostly.

I put a trem-no in my UV so there's not a lot of dicking around to do but there's a slightly raised fret and the fretboard is a temperamental whore in the spring so I normally don't make her any more cranky than she already is haha.

 

[Random Hero]

I used to try to get my action as low as possible until I realised it was killing my tone. I just prefer it a little higher for tone and also playability. It's certainly not "high" by any means but I generally go for 2mm/2.5mm high E/low E at the last fret which is normally around 1.6mm/2mm at the 12th. That's 1/16 high E and 5/64 low E for you imperial guys!

 

[C1-ocaster]

My ESP is about 1.5mm-1/16" on the high E. Low is tiny bit higher.
I tried a bit lower, but didn't like the light buzz coming through on single notes.
I set a slight relief also.
Too low action doesn't feel right to me as I like to feel the strings move to the fret, but not too much.

My Schecter is about the same as the ESP, maybe a tiny bit lower on the high E and low E with a bit less relief.
I'm really impressed with the low action and note clarity on this guitar.

On my Strat I tired setting the action that low but note clarity suffered, and more tendency to choke on bigger bends.
Strat action is about 3mm - 1/8", nearly no relief.
The Strat's fret board is a bit rounder than the ESP and Schecter. So to keep bending from choking it helps to have the action higher on the Strat.

ESP uses a 12"-305mm radius, flatter necks, so low action and bending are not a problem.
LTD radius is actually flatter then ESP at nearly 14"-350mm.
My Schecter C1 is 14"-355mm. I really like that neck and fret board.