# Lowest Action you've ever gotten without fret buzz



## Tasteh (Mar 2, 2013)

I have my Ibanez prestige sitting at around 1.5mm string height right now with no string buzz, but I am a sucker for low action and I was wondering if anyone's gotten it lower?

Also note, I am in c standard with 13-62


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## vick1000 (Mar 2, 2013)

That's about what I had on my old MIJ Sabre.


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## Antares88 (Mar 2, 2013)

1.5mm @ 12th fret bass side. Treble side no idea but its lower.

Caparison with .15-.70 in Bb. 

It can go lower without buzz but I tend to prefer the fuller sounding tone I get with the higher action..


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## Mordecai (Mar 2, 2013)

my RGD and RG7 are both sitting about the same, and I'd like to think its the danger zone.


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## DoomMantia (Mar 2, 2013)

My PRS is about that. Though the lowest I've had was when I had my rg set up professionally. Damn that shit was low.


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## cardinal (Mar 2, 2013)

I've never measured it, but Tom Andersons and Suhrs from the factory have stupid low action. Can't believe they even play with the action that low, but somehow they do without anything fretting out.


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## Quitty (Mar 2, 2013)

cardinal said:


> I've never measured it, but Tom Andersons and Suhrs from the factory have stupid low action. Can't believe they even play with the action that low, but somehow they do without anything fretting out.



I'm dying to try one of those out. Ditto for Vigier.

My Carvin got back from pro setup and i could have sworn the fretboard was a touch screen.
Took a lot of maintenance, though.


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## Dayn (Mar 2, 2013)

On my low E (that is, an octave lower on my eight with an .086) I've gotten maybe around 1.3mm. On the treble side, I've gone around 0.5mm.

With light strings and a very light touch. It's a little bit higher now, though. Fret buzz doesn't mean anything to me. If it doesn't come through the amp, it's all good. I like some buzz now and then.


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## ShadyDavey (Mar 2, 2013)

My 727 used to have an action slightly under 2mm at the 24th fret. 20" radius and jumbo stainless steel frets meant......no fret buzz at all!! Was a pure delight to play and took hardly any work to get to that tolerance - just a re-cut nut as the original was 14"......

One day, I shall have another


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## Andromalia (Mar 2, 2013)

Action is like your man item. If you have to measure it to know if it's effective, you have a problem.


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## Le Jeff (Mar 2, 2013)

I kinda dislike topics like this as they're fairly misleading. I've setup my guitars close to 1mm at the 24th fret and they didn't buzz... of course I was being extremely gentle with my right hand. Once you get to a certain string height no amount of "setup" will take the buzz away if the dude rocking the axe has fists of solid ham.


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## Floppystrings (Mar 2, 2013)

If you have larger strings you can get the action pretty low without buzz.

This requires a very good setup though, you have to be kind of lucky to get a neck that has a perfect bow to it.

The lowest I got was an RG570 back in the day. It was just slightly higher than a thickness of a penny at the 24th fret, treble side.


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## mr_rainmaker (Mar 2, 2013)

ibanez UV7 1mm on high E and 1mm on low E d'addario 9-42 with a 52 for the low b standard tuning.


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 2, 2013)

Can someone upload a video of a guitar unplugged that has no fret buzz playing up and down every fret. I've never played a guitar that didn't buzz or I wasn't able to make buzz by picking a little harder so I'm curious what people consider as no fret buzz.


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## Wings of Obsidian (Mar 2, 2013)

I had a Vigier Shawn Lane Master Excalibur about a year ago before I sold it on here. I had the action on that thing as low as it would go and got NO fret buzz across the whole board, unless I picked too hard or dug into the strings too hard. (Had to develop a super light, fluid touch.)


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## sear (Mar 2, 2013)

drawnacrol said:


> Can someone upload a video of a guitar unplugged that has no fret buzz playing up and down every fret. I've never played a guitar that didn't buzz or I wasn't able to make buzz by picking a little harder so I'm curious what people consider as no fret buzz.


Agreed, when most people say "no fret buzz" they really mean that it's just not excessive. There is always going to be a small amount of buzz unless you have higher action, it's just that whether it bothers you or not is up to you.

In my experience I find that those who claim super-low action actually do get buzz on the low E and A strings provided they don't pluck as lightly as possible. It's not a matter of setup, but physics - the strings simply need a certain amount of space to vibrate correctly.

Of course, the people who who go nuts with super low, shreddy action also tend to play with lots of gain and don't need their guitars to sustain for days, so any buzz is likely to be a minor concern regardless.

Even with a perfect fret job, perfect string guage, perfect neck relief, and perfect technique, I don't think you could reasonably go lower than about 1.7 mm (bass) and 1.2 mm (treble) on a 6 string guitar. On a 7 string you are looking at more like 2 mm bare minimum.

I won't believe these guys who say they get a perfect, non-buzzing 1 mm or lower action under normal playing circumstances (not picking as lightly as possible, not simply playing individual notes, but chords, played acoustically, not through an amp) unless I see proof.


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## phugoid (Mar 2, 2013)

drawnacrol said:


> Can someone upload a video of a guitar unplugged that has no fret buzz playing up and down every fret. I've never played a guitar that didn't buzz or I wasn't able to make buzz by picking a little harder so I'm curious what people consider as no fret buzz.



This. 

At the 12th fret my string clearance is 2.5mm (low B) to 2mm (high E) and I'm just barely avoiding string buzz on single note lines. I'm thinking of going 0.5 mm higher to reduce the buzz when I whack power chords, if I can still manage to intonate correctly at that height without moving the whole bridge back.

I want a full dynamic range when I play, from whisper to scream, from pick attack only. So uncool, I know.


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## stevo1 (Mar 2, 2013)

I can get my action on my guitars to around 1.2mm - 1.5mm without buzzing, if I use thicker gauged strings as they move around less. But I use really light strings, so I keep it around 1.4mm - 1.8mm high to low respectively, as the strings move around more with the same force exerted upon them.


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## Andromalia (Mar 2, 2013)

phugoid said:


> This.
> 
> At the 12th fret my string clearance is 2.5mm (low B) to 2mm (high E) and I'm just barely avoiding string buzz on single note lines.



I'm a quite heavy strummer and I always setup my guitars so I don't have buzz of any kind above the 16th fret. I just can't stand it. My action is therefore higher than what I usually see around here, especially as I don't favor extremely thick strings. I do lots of tremolo picking around the 10th-14th frets and I can't afford buzz as I play with as little distorsion as possible.


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## Azathoth43 (Mar 2, 2013)

I got the action on my Jackson to .83mm on the bass side.


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## JoeChugs (Mar 2, 2013)

About 1.3 mm without any buzz on my ibbys, but I like my action just below 1mm on the treb and just above 1mm on the bass. I deal with some buzz. Thinking about raising to the 1.1 range.

I'd like to pose another question.....when your action is ridiculously low as some of these post suggest, what measurement do you find your relief at? When I work on a guitar without measurements, its almost always come out to around 1mm height, and .007" relief


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## Stealthdjentstic (Mar 2, 2013)

My VIK Caprice T can go insanely low with very little buzz. The fretwork is FLAWLESS, its nuts. I hope my next vik is as good!


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## Dayn (Mar 2, 2013)

sear said:


> I won't believe these guys who say they get a perfect, non-buzzing 1 mm or lower action under normal playing circumstances (not picking as lightly as possible, not simply playing individual notes, but chords, played acoustically, not through an amp) unless I see proof.


What about people whose normal playing circumstances _are_ light? You've deliberately set the bounds of proof to be impossible to achieve...


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## Ikilledkenny (Mar 3, 2013)

I've gone so long without my Strat being properly set up. My low E is is about 4mm at the 12th fret.


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## Heroin (Mar 3, 2013)

Ikilledkenny said:


> I've gone so long without my Strat being properly set up. My low E is is about 4mm at the 12th fret.



you bastard


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 6, 2013)

Wings of Obsidian said:


> I had a Vigier Shawn Lane Master Excalibur about a year ago before I sold it on here. I had the action on that thing as low as it would go and got NO fret buzz across the whole board, unless I picked too hard or dug into the strings too hard. (Had to develop a super light, fluid touch.)



With really light picking or finger picking I can play a nearly every note on my guitars without fret buzz but when you pick hard or normal you will get some fret buzz on the low strings.



stevo1 said:


> I can get my action on my guitars to around 1.2mm - 1.5mm without buzzing, if I use thicker gauged strings as they move around less. But I use really light strings, so I keep it around 1.4mm - 1.8mm high to low respectively, as the strings move around more with the same force exerted upon them.



Can you upload a quick video unplugged?



Stealthdjentstic said:


> My VIK Caprice T can go insanely low with very little buzz. The fretwork is FLAWLESS, its nuts. I hope my next vik is as good!



With fretwork like Viks or getting your guitar Plec'd and setup with moderate tension you could get very little buzz but I don't get how people can have no buzz especially using thin strings that have such a wide area of vibration.

Maybe its one of those things that when you tune your ears to it you will constantly hear it like Floyd Rose Spring noise, reverb from the headstock, sliding noise on certain brands of strings, *tick* noises from certain plectrum materials etc


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## ras1988 (Mar 6, 2013)

My steinberger (molded to perfect relief, no truss rod) usually was hovering around .055" across the board. This makes me really curious to try out a vigier as it is built to perfect relief and is meant to stay there without any adjustment. A roasted maple neck or a multilam. made with stiffer woods could mimic this effect.


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## baptizedinblood (Mar 6, 2013)

My DC727 is about 1.5mm bass side at 12th fret, and around 1.25mm treble side 12th fret. It buzzes but not enough that it actually makes sound when plugged in. 


Fret buzz is an issue when you can actually hear the buzz being amplified, other than that, a little buzz is okay


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## FrancescoFiligoi (Mar 8, 2013)

I should take a pic of my '92 Ibanez FGM100. Action at 12th and 24th fret is as low as at nut. No buzz. Unreal.


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## fwd0120 (Mar 8, 2013)

About 1.4mm.  high E at the 24.


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## sear (Mar 8, 2013)

FrancescoFiligoi said:


> I should take a pic of my '92 Ibanez FGM100. Action at 12th and 24th fret is as low as at nut. No buzz. Unreal.





ras1988 said:


> My steinberger (molded to perfect relief, no truss rod) usually was hovering around .055" across the board. This makes me really curious to try out a vigier as it is built to perfect relief and is meant to stay there without any adjustment. A roasted maple neck or a multilam. made with stiffer woods could mimic this effect.


Take videos of you playing a fairly complex song on it acoustically, using new-ish strings. I'll believe it when I see and hear it.


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