D-Comp Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 Because of physical issues with my hands that are probably due to advancing age, I play more comfortably with the action set on the low side with custom light 11 strings. I have put the 11's on my J-45 Studio and it has really helped me and the guitar still sounds great. I am considering tweaking the action a bit lower but I don't want to create the dreaded buzzing when strummed aggressively that I have experienced with some of my other guitars (not Gibson's). Anyone had any experience with set-ups with 11's? My string height at the 12th fret is between 6/64 and 7/64 for E, and 3/32 for e. Thanks for any input, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayoubengal1954 Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) My preferred action is 2.00mm/1.75mm (to give you a point of reference in inches, 5/64"=1.9844mm and 4.5/64"=1.78605mm). But that is for 12s, so that may not help much. But I'm betting you could go a little lower than what you have now if you're not a banger strummer. Edited May 26, 2019 by bayoubengal1954 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 20 hours ago, D-Comp said: Because of physical issues with my hands that are probably due to advancing age, I play more comfortably with the action set on the low side with custom light 11 strings. I have put the 11's on my J-45 Studio and it has really helped me and the guitar still sounds great. I am considering tweaking the action a bit lower but I don't want to create the dreaded buzzing when strummed aggressively that I have experienced with some of my other guitars (not Gibson's). Anyone had any experience with set-ups with 11's? My string height at the 12th fret is between 6/64 and 7/64 for E, and 3/32 for e. Thanks for any input, I find your action at the 12th fret rather high. With 12's on my J-180, I'm having .050 on the treble and .080 on the bass side. The neck is almost perfectly straight. Needless to say, she plays insanely well and easy. With custom 11's you could safely go lower than that. Edited May 26, 2019 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 I use the same gage. I set at the 12th .060"E to .040"e Neck relief .000"-.005" I do setups for friends. The biggest improvement I make for them is the nut slots. At the 1st .022"E dropping .002" per string to .012"e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Comp Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share Posted May 26, 2019 Thanks for the thoughtful replies. My goal in the past has been 5/64 E and 1/16th e. I "think" the conversions would be about 0.08 E and 0.06 e. I will get a local shop to do the 1st. set-up and I would expect them to ask me what my preferred target is. Your input has helped, thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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