Why the Suggested Action Height For Sg

[shreddy bender]

What's wrong with Fender? Can't they do even the most basic maths? You never quote fractions without reducing them. It's not 4/64 it's 1/16.

That's to make it sound more complicated and "high tech"!

 

[donepearce]

Well, that or retarded.

 

[smitty_p]

Well, I'll give you my pessimistic opinion...

If you look at the 1987 excerpt I posted, Fender did reduce the fraction for strings 5 & 6 to 3/32, instead of saying "6/64."

As to the 2011 excerpt...

Perhaps, its a feeling on Fender's part that the decline of educational quality since 1987 has left people less able to reduce a fraction. So, realizing guitar players would be using a ruler with 1/64th graduations, they just made it idiot-proof and specified "4/64" rather than assuming the hapless guitar player would understand that a value of 1/16 equals four 1/64th inch markings on the ruler.

Like I said, that's just my pessimistic opinion.

 

[shreddy bender]

I worked at a furniture factory for a few months last year and was the new guy obviously. Me and a guy about 15 years younger than me were running table tops through the bed sander with 80 grit to get them to the correct thickness.
Buddy gets the tape out and says "Well we still have 2/8ths to go."
I looked and said "OK. A quarter it is then!".
He looked at me, then at the tape and then went D'oh !
:)

 

[Biddlin]

Take it to the next step and think about the action on a bass guitar. The strings have to be even farther from the fretboard since they're both longer and heavier.

Yeah, but the same principles apply.

You can get 'em pretty close, if the frets are good.
;>)/

 

[Alex_SG]

Agreed. When I got my bass, the action was so high I could have done a limbo under the strings. Now it's not much higher than on my SGs, which have a very low action, almost to the point of fret buzz...

 

[Paul G.]

What's wrong with Fender? Can't they do even the most basic maths? You never quote fractions without reducing them. It's not 4/64 it's 1/16.

If your rule has lines at 1/64"intervals, you count 4 of them. That's why it stated like that. Machinists do the same thing.

It's correct.

P.

 

[Paul G.]

All of my guitars have the same action. Bottom of the string is 4/64 at 17th fret with a capo holding down the string at the first fret, treble and bass. On a Fender all strings adjusted to the same height. I could probably get a bit lower in the trebles on a Gibson, but then you can't get purchase for bending and vibrato.

Relief varies, just set as straight as possible with no buzz or rattle in the first 5 frets. I start with.009 at 7th fret and go from there.

P.