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Typical action on Guthrie's axes

 
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Riffronan



Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 1:43 pm    Post subject: Typical action on Guthrie's axes Reply with quote

Ok, no secret that Guthrie is sick good... I'm really loving the Dunlop Ultex 1.14s I use now in place of the Fender Extra Heavys. Now I know that Guthrie must like really low action and uses that Plek technology to achieve it. Could Alex or somebody tell me what kind of action he has on his Suhrs at the 12th fret?? My N4 now has right at 3/64ths at the 12th top and bottom and that's pretty darn comfortable...but imagine his is lower Smile
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alexkhan



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, Guthrie sets the action fairly low. You might as well when you can get it that low without buzzing and choking on extreme string bends. Wink I'd say that the action is around 3/64" at the last 22nd fret, so that should come out to a little over 2/64" or around 2.5/64" at the 12th fret. It'd be slightly lower on the treble side (plain strings).

I have the first Root Beer Standard with me now. Guthrie tweaked it to his taste for his use during NAMM and I haven't touched a thing except tighten the truss rod a little and the action is low but not so low that you can't dig into the strings when you want to. Guthrie's attitude towards action is "why fight the instrument?".
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Riffronan



Joined: 02 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks so much, Alex, for your speedy response Shocked That is a bit lower than mine and man, you've hit it right on...why 'fight' the instrument. The Root Beer Standard must be a real dream to play and hear...
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dreamfullofzen



Joined: 29 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i think it boils down to neck shape i guess in terms of preferance, since sometimes too low can feel uncomfortable... too low on a flat and wide neck and feel weird for doing big bends.

I have to say though that a slightly higher action doesn't seem to hinder guthrie though, atleast it didn't seem to when i handed him my old horizon... Laughing
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Riffronan



Joined: 02 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:15 pm    Post subject: Simpleton Reply with quote

wow, I could see that...t'would be a very cool thing indeed to meet 'the man', buy him and his band some beers and just f'n play...and get skooled in the process..but hey, that's allll good. I'll whip my N4 into shape and aspire to be his rhythm player...weeeee
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alexkhan



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PostPosted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When Guthrie first did a clinic at TM back in Jan '04, he had his old PRS. The action on it was medium, not low at all. I'd say that it was at least 4/64" at the 12th fret or a little higher. He's the type of guy who'll pick up any guitar and sound like himself immediately. He sets the action low on his Suhrs since they still sound great that way and they don't buzz or fret out. Some guitars just don't sound good until you raise the action somewhat.
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Riffronan



Joined: 02 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yea Alex, that's just a true testament to his natural, inherent ability to play. He's not held back even with limitations of the instrument. And hey, how does the Aldrich/ssh+ pup sound on the clean channel? Balanced, I would guess. I say this because while the Bill Lawrence really is wonderful for Pantera metal tone, it lacks a 'round' sound..is that what you meant when you said 'hi-fi'? The '59er in the neck is stunning and great for jazz but the BL is absolutely bad on the clean channel and even if you switch it parallel with the '59, it adds its ugly telephonic personality which must only thrive in solid state over-the-top lead thrashness. The N4 really sounds sweet acoustically and the BL doesn't really let any character nevermind warmth through..I do understand that with tube amps you strive for power amp saturation (?) whereas SS shoots for hot pickups and preamp distortion. So the point I suppose is that is a bridge pickup supposed to be usable on the clean channel? Embarassed
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alexkhan



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PostPosted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Riffronan wrote:
Yea Alex, that's just a true testament to his natural, inherent ability to play. He's not held back even with limitations of the instrument. And hey, how does the Aldrich/ssh+ pup sound on the clean channel? Balanced, I would guess. I say this because while the Bill Lawrence really is wonderful for Pantera metal tone, it lacks a 'round' sound..is that what you meant when you said 'hi-fi'? The '59er in the neck is stunning and great for jazz but the BL is absolutely bad on the clean channel and even if you switch it parallel with the '59, it adds its ugly telephonic personality which must only thrive in solid state over-the-top lead thrashness. The N4 really sounds sweet acoustically and the BL doesn't really let any character nevermind warmth through..I do understand that with tube amps you strive for power amp saturation (?) whereas SS shoots for hot pickups and preamp distortion. So the point I suppose is that is a bridge pickup supposed to be usable on the clean channel? Embarassed


Well, I used to play the JB in the bridge position for the longest time. The SSH+ has JB type of output, but it has much more clarity in the mids while retaining the punch. I always thought the JB was pretty useless for clean sounds but the SSH+ (and the Aldrich and the DSH+) sounds great for clean. There is none of that harsh high-mids that makes the JB and most high output humbuckers useless for clean.
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Zeriton



Joined: 05 Jan 2007
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PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2007 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

2/64? That doesn't seem too low to me considering I've heard John Petrucci uses 0.8mm at the 12th fret!

What's Guthrie's typical action in mm at the 12th fret d'ya know (from the fret not the fretboard)? And I think an important thing to mention is the radius on his Suhrs!
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alexkhan



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PostPosted: Fri May 25, 2007 12:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Zeriton wrote:
2/64? That doesn't seem too low to me considering I've heard John Petrucci uses 0.8mm at the 12th fret!

What's Guthrie's typical action in mm at the 12th fret d'ya know (from the fret not the fretboard)? And I think an important thing to mention is the radius on his Suhrs!


Well, 1/64" = 0.4mm, so 0.8mm is 2/64" or 1/32". Action at the 12th fret is lower than at the last fret (22nd), so JP's action would be a little higher than Guthrie's. I figure 0.8mm at the last fret would equate to around 0.5~0.6mm at the 12th fret. That's pretty low. That'd be too low for me. I'd probably like it at around 1.0m at the 12th fret.

The radius on Guthrie's three Suhr Standards is 16" all the way across. It's 10-14" compound radius on his Suhr Classic and Classic T guitars.
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Zeriton



Joined: 05 Jan 2007
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PostPosted: Fri May 25, 2007 3:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

alexkhan wrote:
Zeriton wrote:
2/64? That doesn't seem too low to me considering I've heard John Petrucci uses 0.8mm at the 12th fret!

What's Guthrie's typical action in mm at the 12th fret d'ya know (from the fret not the fretboard)? And I think an important thing to mention is the radius on his Suhrs!


Well, 1/64" = 0.4mm, so 0.8mm is 2/64" or 1/32". Action at the 12th fret is lower than at the last fret (22nd), so JP's action would be a little higher than Guthrie's. I figure 0.8mm at the last fret would equate to around 0.5~0.6mm at the 12th fret. That's pretty low. That'd be too low for me. I'd probably like it at around 1.0m at the 12th fret.

The radius on Guthrie's three Suhr Standards is 16" all the way across. It's 10-14" compound radius on his Suhr Classic and Classic T guitars.



Ahhh! Thanks for clearing that up! I get confused with this 1/64" stuff Laughing

I have it at 2.5mm at the 12th fret but (although in my words unfortunatly) can shred pretty damn well I guess... That's pretty cool to know that his is around 0.6mm! I might try it haha
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Dee



Joined: 17 Jun 2006
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PostPosted: Sun May 27, 2007 6:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

0.8mm? Shocked Jesus! My Ibanez RG550 (20th Anniversary, YAY!) is around 2mm at the 12th fret on the bass side, and to me, this feels low. I cannot imagine playing with 0.8mm, never mind 0.4mm! That's just insane!

So what string gauge is Guthrie using? I guess 10's would be OK with an action like that. Not 9's, surely?
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