Hi

my friend's a beginner with a crap ass guitar with the action way too high (for decent playing & tremolo picking on it)

So I was wondering, can I lower the strings (action?) on his guitar as I like or is it not advisable because of consequences (if there are any)

thanks

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here's my rule of thumb: if you have to post on a forum or poke around on the internet to find out how to do something, take it to a professional. you could snap the neck or hurt the guitar if you did it yourself

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It just matters what kinda guitar you have. lowering your action is just a do-it-yourselfer unless you have a really expensive guitar and really want to perserve it. if you have gibson type bridge such as those found in sg' and lespulas all you have to do is loosen the string and move the screws at the bottom to the desired height. if you have a floyd rose same thing just move set the two screws at the bottom to desired height. For fender style bridges i dont know for i ve never owned a guitar with a fender style bridge. hint: fret the last fret and hit the string if it buzzes on the pickups than your action is to low or you could also always lower the pick ups. still be careful.

Go professional for sure. Its very easy to fuck up his guitar. They will usually do it for anywhere between 5 - 15 bucks, or if the guy is cool or you know him, for free.

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What is the difference between higher and lower action? How does one feel and sound different than the other???

I dont know about the first question above. I guess it depends on what type of guitar your friend has and what kinda condition the neck is in. As for the question that shred is not dead has asked , Lowering the strings can increse your string volume and can cause a fair amount of fret buzz as well.Especially if you use heavy gauge strings. Same thing occurs when you raise or lower your pick ups in your guitar. Thats all I know.

definitley take it to a professional.when i first started playing (about 3years ago)i fucked up my guitar lowering the bridge saddles on my guitar.i took it to a professional at a guitar center and told him my tuning(c#)and the action is perfect,not to high,not to low and i dont get fret buzz.

High action is really not very good from shredding. Although dead frets and buzzing would be minimized, it would be really hard to play fast.

Low action is perfect for shredding. Lower action often results unwanted buzzing. If you want it done right, with minimal amounts of buzz, then I would take it to a pro.

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i owered my action myself, but thats only because i know what i am doing. the strings are wicked low to the fretboard and i get no buzz, it's great. i like low action because it is alot easier to play fast. i wouldnt recommend that you DIY because like the others have said, you can fuck up your guitar's neck pretty badly.

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Alright thanks !!

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yeh take it to a shop....

it will save alot of headaches....

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Higher action means more resonation, sustain, note definition, and better tone. Its nice to have a high action because it really builds speed inceases strength in you hand.

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In my experience, there's a tradeoff - too high an action makes it hard to play, but it needs to be pretty high the faster you get, because too low an action will cause notes to ring more, especially during sweeps and arpeggios. Anybody else experience this?

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I didnt bother lowering the action on my guitar myself, just took it to my guitar teacher and he did it for free. My action is just in the middle between low and high so i get good sustain but am able to fret notes easier

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i just lowered my action myself last night. i had really no idea waht i was doing besides what i read about on the internet. i have a bc rich warlock body art collection-maggot man. and the strings were a little high for me so i lowered the pickups and then the bridge. low action is deffinately more comfortable for me to play with but as far as it sounding better or worse i really didnt hear much of a difference.