Low action , ibanez or jackson?

[TremDestroyer]

So im looking to have a NGD soon. i like low action, and i thought about trying a brand besides Ibanez (gasp). Jackson raves that their compound radius ensures lowest action, but ive played ibanez prestiges for years and found you can get the strings on the frets if you want em there. I plan on getting a 7 string with a trem . Anyone here play with jacksons alot who can offer insight to my skepticism?

So which brand gets you the lowest action?

 

[Jonathan20022]

Low action isn't brand dependent, if your frets are properly crowned and leveled and none of them are sticking out, then you can achieve low action with the right relief and setup. I've been able to achieve 1-1.2mm Action on all my guitars with no buzzing, including my Jackson Broderick.

I also never got the whole Ibanez/Low Action assumption, I've played Ibanez guitars with high action before.

 

[TremDestroyer]

I bought a brand new esp horizon and it played terribly. Had two techs look at it ."nothings wrong" but couldnt get the ibanez action. It was in my posession for less than two months before i sold it.

 

[technomancer]

Action is a matter of setup not brand

 

[Jonathan20022]

I bought a brand new esp horizon and it played terribly. Had two techs look at it ."nothings wrong" but couldnt get the ibanez action. It was in my posession for less than two months before i sold it.

Like I said, there's no such thing as "Ibanez Action", no offense to the gentlemen who gave your guitar a look. But if they couldn't lower the action for you, then I wouldn't really want them working on my gear.

It's a matter of setup, I'd recommend learning how to set them up. It's actually not that difficult, and once you get the hang of it, low action is something very easy to attain unless there is something wrong with the guitar in question.

 

[TremDestroyer]

The guitar had to be a lemon. I adjusted the truss rod and bridge myself and couldnt get it anywheres near "low"
I just love the feeling of a good setup where the strings can just barely be pressed and they ring out

 

[TremDestroyer]

My posts are somewhat bias since again thats all i have played besides my esp horizon fr 7. I really would like to try a jackson. Is 1 millimeter low? I mever measured my prestiges. Just lowered it till they buzzed then took it up a notch from there then never touched em again

 

[twizza]

Let's not forget what the good folks over at Cosmopolitan said about not paying any attention to the nuts. Lots of times a guitar will come with good relief/fretwork, but the nut needs to be shaved a bit.

Also, pretty much this:

Action is a matter of setup not brand

 

[Jonathan20022]

To me that's pretty low, before my tech taught me how to set up my guitars I thought 1.5-2mm was low action. 1mm is pretty low!

 

[TremDestroyer]

I feel so ignorant . Ive been playing forever but just now am wanting to experiment with brands, i just fear losing my shreddibility from my ibbys. Any more nsight on the jacksons?

 

[Cloudy]

I feel so ignorant . Ive been playing forever but just now am wanting to experiment with brands, i just fear losing my shreddibility from my ibbys. Any more nsight on the jacksons?

Go to a guitar shop and try a few jacksons, if they're aesthetically pleasing for you and the neck feels nice Im sure you can work towards getting low action on any one you want.

 

[Jonathan20022]

The Jackson I own is pretty different from the rest of their line from what I gather, Stainless Frets, 12" Radius vs their Compound Radius, Floyd Pro Original. It feels incredible, and it's never too late man! That's half the magic, finding new gear to inspire!

 

[Hollowway]

Action isn't brand specific, but it is definitely radius specific. At least if you bend. Jackson and Ibanez have large radii, which allows you to get a real low action and still be able to bend without fretting out.

It should also be pointed out that if you want to get really low action on a Floyd you're going to have to break out the soda cans and start cutting and shimming the saddles to match the exact radius of the FB. IIRC Floyds come with a stock 12" radius and some shims already installed to achieve that.

But to answer your question directly, yes, you should be able to get a super low action on a Jackson. If you get a top of the line one the odds of the fret job being awesome are a lot higher. But you can always take one to a Plek shop, too. Overall, be careful of these "techs." There are actual guitar techs and then there are dudes that work in music stores that call themselves techs. If you find a good tech, KEEP him! They're worth their weight in gold. But the vast majority of people using that title are not worthy of it.

And you know what they call a tech who can't get good action on ESP branded guitars? Somebody else's tech. Don't go back to that guy.

Wait, I got a couple more
How many techs does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None. You can't get light out of that brand.

Confucious say: Tech who can't lower action turning screws on you, not on saddles.

A tech, a priest and a lawyer walk into a bar...

 

[TRENCHLORD]

The OFR6 is 10" with the stock center-shim, and 12" if you pull it out. (always better to pull it out IMO)

So with a 12" radius bridge you're good to about a 14" fret-board.
That's basically what Carvin does stock now, except they use "different" OFR's (that I don't really like as much honestly) and I suspect they come to Carvin already shim-free.

If you have above 14" frets you'll need to shim the outer saddles accordingly.

 

[TremDestroyer]

Its pretty hard to find jackson usas though

 

[Mik3D23]

The OFR6 is 10" with the stock center-shim, and 12" if you pull it out. (always better to pull it out IMO)

So with a 12" radius bridge you're good to about a 14" fret-board.
That's basically what Carvin does stock now, except they use "different" OFR's (that I don't really like as much honestly) and I suspect they come to Carvin already shim-free.

If you have above 14" frets you'll need to shim the outer saddles accordingly.

IIRC, the 7 string floyd rose has a 20" radius stock..

 

[Veritech Zero]

I bought a brand new esp horizon and it played terribly. Had two techs look at it ."nothings wrong" but couldnt get the ibanez action. It was in my posession for less than two months before i sold it.

Huh, that's funny, the guitar that I can get the action the lowest on where I can bend the notes as hard as I want on every string and every fret is an LTD Alexi-600SE (the pinky version) and I have the treble side set to .3mm and the bass side set to .5mm. I have to touch up the frets with some scotch brite and adjust the truss rod about once a month to be able to keep it there. But it has been hands down the lowest fully effective action I can achieve out of any guitar.

Really it comes down to your fretwork and neck straightness. I have an Epiphone Thunderhorse (12" radius) and after a little touching up where it needs it I can get the action much lower than 1mm and be able to bend any note as far as I physically can.

I also have a Jackson USA Kelly that I love dearly, and it is in the same boat as all of my other guitars, a little fret touch up every now and then and a straight neck and I can get the action about as low as any other guitar I have so I don't think you should worry about it. Branch out a little if you think you need to.

 

[Thrashman]

The key player here is the fretwork as some have mentioned.

If the fretwork isn't perfect, getting that super low action is going to be impossible without fretting out/having some dead notes. If you're really adamant about this stuff - go get it PLEKd or have a (great)tech dress your frets!

 

[Lorcan Ward]

I find it varies from player to player.

Some people like a bit of clearance to have minimal fret buzz while some players like really low banjo action with buzzing everywhere. I really paid attention at Messe seeing just how different people setup their guitars.