# 8 Strings and Action



## Aerospace274 (Apr 16, 2011)

Looked around, didn't find anything similar in the forum.
Seems like I'm always unsure about something on my Agile! Wish Ibanez made production runs of Meshuggah's customs. Anyway, my action seems unusually high.The lowest I can get it without horrible buzz is like 3.5mm on the wound strings and slightly less on the plain strings. Is that average, lol? I just had this thing set up by a local tech too! 
What kind of action can you guys get on YOUR 8's?


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## CooleyJr (Apr 16, 2011)

I'd suggest taking a look at your neck relief. 3.5mm is pretty damn high. My Agile's action is probably around 1mm on the low strings and maybe .8-.9mm on the high strings. Also check for high frets down near the nut.


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## TRENCHLORD (Apr 16, 2011)

Thats very, very high. Where are you measuring at and are you talking from top of fret to bottom of string, or fretboard to bottom of string. I personally always measure at 14th fret because thats what my RGT manual went buy. It came set with 2mm action on 6th string and 1.5mm on 1st string and even after going up to 54's in C# I only needed to tweek it slightly. I did increase the neck curve an extra couple tenths of mm.


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## Aerospace274 (Apr 16, 2011)

Top of fret to bottom of string. It has pretty high relief as it is. The old fret the last fret on the neck and first and measure at the seventh looks to be about a millimeter. Maybe slightly more or less. All the frets seem pretty low to me tbh but I don't really know what to look for. :/


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## TRENCHLORD (Apr 16, 2011)

Never had an 8string so I'm speaking out of element, but I don't think you'll need more then 2/3mm for relief. If you don't already, then maybe try gettin Dunlop .5,.6, and .7 picks to use as feeler guages to obtain exact relief measurement. If strings buzz on low frets(1-4) and not on higher frets then you'll need more relief. If they buzz on middle or upper frets, raise action. Reducing your relief can actually increase tension slightly which will most likely help the buzz problem. Keep adjusting in small increments and taking action and relief measurements and noting the changes in playability. Soon you''ll be doing setups for everyone in your circle.


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## TRENCHLORD (Apr 16, 2011)

Also, it might be a help to measure your pickup action and then lower it down a good ways just to eliminate magnet pull as a possible culprit. After you sort things out return it to proper height. If your moving action around your going to need a slight magnet adjustment anyways.


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## Hollowway (Apr 17, 2011)

There are loads of threads on setting your action in here. Basically the fact that it has an extra string or two has nothing to do with the action on the other strings. And that is pretty damn high.


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## Aerospace274 (Apr 17, 2011)

Yeah, I'm aware adding a string isn't gonna change anything but it's an ERG in question! Different gauge strings will usually buzz at different actions ect ect.
And thanks Trenchlord! I'm pretty good at 6 string setups but I'm a little unsure of the dual rods in my 8 and I'm definitely not used to open coil pickups and the whole magnet attraction deal so I'll be sure to adjust it accordingly. (Yes, I know covered pickups have magnets too but it's never been a problem for me before!)


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## Hollowway (Apr 17, 2011)

Aerospace274 said:


> Yeah, I'm aware adding a string isn't gonna change anything but it's an ERG in question! Different gauge strings will usually buzz at different actions ect ect.
> And thanks Trenchlord! I'm pretty good at 6 string setups but I'm a little unsure of the dual rods in my 8 and I'm definitely not used to open coil pickups and the whole magnet attraction deal so I'll be sure to adjust it accordingly. (Yes, I know covered pickups have magnets too but it's never been a problem for me before!)


 
Yeah, you'll end up with the 7th and 8th strings up a little higher, of course, but I think most of us set the action of 8s the same as 6s. Like, I've got my 8s at about 1mm or slightly under at the 12th fret of the high E, and a bit higher on the lower strings (to reduce buzz). I didn't catch which Agile you have, but if it's got a Kahler that can be a bear to get the action to the right height (because of the way Rondo mounts them). If it's a hipshot style you should just be able to adjust it like you would a sixxer.
Also, on my Intrepid I actually had to turn the truss rod to actively flatten the neck (i.e. turned it passed passive toward backbow). I keep my necks damn close to flat in order to keep the action as low as possible.


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## Aerospace274 (Apr 17, 2011)

830 MN NA, Hipshot style bridge. I'm finding the close I set the neck to flat, the more buzz it has. But I'm making improvements as far as relief! I happened to have a few .5 and .73 picks I never use lying around so they made decent gauges for it. Next up is action and I'm thinking this'll be the hard part lol.
EDIT: Wow, this is kind of funny... I feel like I should take a before and after shot of the action!


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## Hollowway (Apr 17, 2011)

Aerospace274 said:


> 830 MN NA, Hipshot style bridge. I'm finding the close I set the neck to flat, the more buzz it has. But I'm making improvements as far as relief! I happened to have a few .5 and .73 picks I never use lying around so they made decent gauges for it. Next up is action and I'm thinking this'll be the hard part lol.
> EDIT: Wow, this is kind of funny... I feel like I should take a before and after shot of the action!


 
Yeah, but make sure you check it through an amp (or through a POD and headphones or whatever) for the buzzing. I always get buzzing on the wound strings at the actions I talked about, but it never comes through the amp. Also, check the nut height. Fret the lowest string at the first fret and look at how high it is over the 2nd fret. If that distance is smaller than how far the string is over the 1st fret when it's just coming off the nut then the nut needs to be lowered (or slotted lower). That's what I had to do on my Intrepid to lower the action fully.


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