merciful-evans Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 An American friend posted up a Matt Rainnes video (on the SongStuff Forum) and said it reminded him of 'the penny test' he did on guitars in the 80s. I had never heard of this. The idea is to place a penny (a US cent actually) between the 12th fret and the strings. If it didnt slip through, the guitar had a fast action. A better test according to Mike was the dime test, as a dime is thinner. Mike says that a penny is 0.0598 inches (1.52 mm) in thickness. And a dime is 053" (1.35mm) thick. Well I dont have any US coins and our uk pennies are thicker, but.... I sifted through the old family coin box and found a couple of old sixpences. One from 1949 and another from 1950 (these are Brian May plectrums BTW). I measured them with a micrometer and they measured up as follows. 1949 = .051" (1.29mm) at thickest point : edge 1950 = .055" (1.39mm) at thickest point : edge I tried them both on 5 working guitars. None of which exhibit any fret buzz. To my surprise all gripped ok at the 12th fret. These are the Deuce, the 339, the 650, the Less+ and the Esprit. The Less+ even gripped at the 22nd fret as the strings are close on parallel to the frets due to the adjustable nut. I was pleasantly surprised. I didnt expect any of them to pass. :) I hope this doesnt mean I've got to play fast now :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 Well that's fun test to try. I just happened to have a US penny and dime in my pocket from lunch change. My new Standard LP did not pass the test, may need some adjustment now that it has settled in for a couple months. My LP Lite however passed even the dime test as did my CS336 We will be expecting an Alvin Lee like sound bite from you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 If my strings were that low I'd sell that guitar. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 If my strings were that low I'd sell that guitar. rct Might try raising the action first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 I hope this doesnt mean I've got to play fast now :unsure: Well someone has to say it - Yes. Yes it does. This is what happens when you get all technical and stuff. [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 1494379079[/url]' post='1854337']Well someone has to say it - Yes. Yes it does. This is what happens when you get all technical and stuff. [lol] You beat me to it. I was going to tell him Yes, he has to play fast now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted May 10, 2017 Author Share Posted May 10, 2017 Well someone has to say it - Yes. Yes it does. This is what happens when you get all technical and stuff. [lol] :) Well the last bit of playing I posted up here was on a spanish guitar with an action you could trampoline on. The last bit of electric playing I posted was not nearly as technical though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StRanger7032 Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Wow, that's some low action. My luthier always jokes about how stupidly low I like my action, so I figured there was no way the coins would slip through on mine. They all fell right through with the action at my preferred height of 1/16" at the 12th fret. I'm sure I'd have fret buzz if I went any lower, even on the ones with recent professional fret dressing. My Japanese ESP Edwards might have been able to do it, but I sold that one last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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