Guitar actions question.

[Keitake]

Hi guys, I have a question. While trying to make my guitar actions as low as possible, I have noticed that there were a little buzz when it was not yet "low enough" height. But I don't really care about little buzz, my problem is, when the height is set to be a little bit more lower, the notes fade away when I do bending. That little bit lower is still not low enough. I think just a bit lower than the standard height, I don't have a feeler gauge T_T

So, the real question is, before I get to guitar shop to do my repair, what actually determines the action of a guitar? As in, how can a BC Rich guitar get a very, very low action without the notes fading away and a fret buzz anywhere? Which part of my guitar should I adjust or change from a guitar tech?

Thank you for your attention!
Regards,
Keitake

 

[LadyInTears]

theguitaraddict.blogspot.com

follow the simple steps there!

 

[asdf]

for very very low action, the neck has to be straight. frets have to be leveled evenly as well. for the bending issue, that has to do with the neck's radius.

what you can do now is to check the straightness of your neck. as shown by ladyintears, check theguitaraddict.blogspot.com's latest posts.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

straight necks and levelled frets are two independent things. if u use frets 1 to 12 more often, they will wear out faster than frets 13 to 24, thus making the frets there ever slightly shorter than the ones high up. when u check for straight neck using the fret 1st fret / last fret string method, u only see the relief over the 7th / 8th fret. u might have adjusted it correctly with a slight bow but buzzing might still occur because of the higher frets. the easiest and cheapest way for a guitar tech to solve this problem is to identify and to file down the problematic frets up there, from about 15th to 24 (or 21 / 22)

fret wear might not be the only cause though, neck warp or manufacturing defects might cause the new guitar to suffer from this problem too! adjusting nut and saddle height will also affect buzzing slightly but as asdf said, it's mainly the frets that need to be levelled

 

[subversion]

...when the height is set to be a little bit more lower, the notes fade away when I do bending.

that's because the frets are arched, not straight, so this happens. say you bend the high E up towards the bass side, as you do so, the lowered action would be muted/ choked by the arched portion of the frets at the G/D strings area. in any action settings, be sure you comply to the neck radius of your guitar, the common mistake in any self-adjustments is not having this in place. so if your guitar sports a fixed bridge, it should look something like this:

for guitars sporting a dual-action whammy bridge such as the Floyd Rose units & such, the unit had been set to comply to the neck radius back at the factory so it's less headache there