24th fret action question.

[elkoki]

I've found that some of my guitars have a lower string action at the 24th fret vs their 12th fret height. I adjust all my guitars to have the proper neck relief, some guitars progressively get higher action as you play higher up the fret board which seems normal. But a couple of guitars that i've owned have the opposite. For example i've had 2 different Schecters that have 1.5mm action at the 12th and around 1.2mm at the 24th fret. Is this because the heel of the neck has developed a rise?

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

It would be because your neck has a little forward bow and your bridge is dropped down a bit. If you wanted higher action at the 24th you'd just need to raise your bridge and straighten your neck a touch.

But higher at 24 is probably what you want, since the middle of the string needs more room to vibrate. Probably. Some know more than me about this.

 

[lewis]

Serious question, how do you adjust action so its the same low height all the way down the neck?

I too have the situation where action gets higher the further up you go. If i lower the string saddles to get action seem the same height all the way down, then fret buzzing starts happening.
Like its nothing terrible heightwise but im abit OCD and would like it seem uniform all the way down the neck haha

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Serious question, how do you adjust action so its the same low height all the way down the neck?

I too have the situation where action gets higher the further up you go. If i lower the string saddles to get action seem the same height all the way down, then fret buzzing starts happening.
Like its nothing terrible heightwise but im abit OCD and would like it seem uniform all the way down the neck haha

You don't really want the same action from first to last fret.

The strings vibrate in an "oval" shape, the center moving further than the ends, so you want to compensate for that to some degree of you want low action. That's why most good setups leave the neck with some relief and not dead straight.

Obviously, the harder you hit the strings and the more movement they have in general, given elasticity, will dictate how much you need to adjust for, which is why personalized setups are ideal.

 

[lewis]

You don't really want the same action from first to last fret.

The strings vibrate in an "oval" shape, the center moving further than the ends, so you want to compensate for that to some degree of you want low action. That's why most good setups leave the neck with some relief and not dead straight.

Obviously, the harder you hit the strings and the more movement they have in general, given elasticity, will dictate how much you need to adjust for, which is why personalized setups are ideal.

Ah thats really interesting. Well seeing as my intonation is fine everywhere and ive got no buzzing as it is, i should leave it as is then.

Cool. Probably looking to solve a problem that doesnt exist haha

 

[elkoki]

The problem with the lower action at the 24th fret is there's some fret out higher up the neck . Tightening the truss rod helps but makes the frets above the 12th fret buzz more.. So for now i've just tried finding a good inbetween spot... The problem seems to be worse on the treble side, the bass side progressively gets higher action, but the treble is always lower. I guess I will take it to a tech one day, I like this guitar a lot , it'd be worth getting a fret level.

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

Your bass side saddles might just be higher. Or your neck might have a twist. Hopefully the former.

 

[Webmaestro]

This is where neck-shimming (modifying the neck angle) can help—if you can’t solve by other means—but only if you’re experiencing unwanted buzz, fretting out, etc.

If there aren’t any symptoms like that, I’d just leave it as-is.