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Thread: String Height at 12th Fret

  1. #1

    Default String Height at 12th Fret

    What string heights at the 12th fret are people using on their Blueridge tenor guitars (BR-40T, BR-60T, and BR-70T)? I had my Blueridge BR-60T setup by a luthier and now I have fret buzz after the setup. The luthier set the string height at the 12th fret at 5/64 inches, which I believe is too low. I asked him to set the string height at 6/64, but he set it at 5/64 instead. Thanks for letting me know the string heights people are using.
    Blueridge BR-60T Tenor Guitar
    Eastwood Warren Ellis 2P Tenor Guitar

  2. #2
    Registered User fox's Avatar
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    Default Re: String Height at 12th Fret

    I have no idea Chip, coming from the UK I don't even recognise those measurements!
    I have never had anything done to mine, I have changed the tuning several times & always found it to play very well!
    Anyway I don't think I could accurately quote such tiny measurements (not with my eye sight) but if you are getting a buzz I would take it back to him and ask why?
    Maybe a truss rod tweak is needed or a high fret flattening?

  3. #3

    Default Re: String Height at 12th Fret

    Quote Originally Posted by fox View Post
    I have no idea Chip, coming from the UK I don't even recognise those measurements! ...
    So UK uses metric or something? Presumably nothing to do with other British (older) standards such as Whitworth * ... anyway according to a conversion chart I found:

    • 5/64 inch equals 1.9844 mm
    • 6/64 (or 3/32) inch equals 2.3813 mm.


    (Yes, fractions are a pain, I'm used to them but they're still tedious to deal with.)

    * All I know about Whitworth is that my dad had an Ariel Square Four motorcycle that required what he claimed was "Whitworth tools" and he said it was a British thing. Other than that, I got no idea except what I've read today.

    Ok so my ramblings are, um, nice and all but it still doesn't answer the OP's question. So now that we have the metric conversion done, does anyone know what 12th-fret clearances oughta be?

  4. #4
    Registered User fox's Avatar
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    Default Re: String Height at 12th Fret

    OK fair enough I do understand and recognise 'imperial' measurement!
    Due to my age I have spent time in an total imperial age but now I live in a mixed imperial & metric age!
    It is quite confusing as cross references are the norm on most building sites 18mm ply is still 3/4 ply 50 x100 timber is still 2x4.
    Every tape measure I own has metric on one side and imperial on the other.
    However I never deal with inches in small fractions, always millimetres...
    Anyway I just slid a feeler gauge under my guitar at the 12th & it is tells me 2.5mm maybe 2.6mm under the E & 2.7mm under the G.

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  6. #5
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    Default Re: String Height at 12th Fret

    I don't know why the setup guy would take the action lower than your request, since it is so easy to lower the action incrementally after playing awhile on each new setting. On my tenors, 5/64" or even 6/64" action sounds low. I will typically shoot for action about the same as the comparable strings a 6-string guitar, eg, between 6/64th to 8/64th, higher on the bass side and lower on the treble. And, ideally I would want lower action if using CGDA tuning, and higher action for GDAE tuning, as the lower-tuned strings are going to move more.

    But you don't mention your string gauges or tuning you are using, and also whether the nut slots were perhaps cut a little too deep, which could definitely inctroduce buzzing of open strings. Too-low action at the saddle would tend to cause buzzing on higher frets when fretting in the middle of the neck - often buzzing occurs near the body joint, as fingerboards often have a little hump at the body. So unless you have really level FB/frets, a 5/64" action might well be too low. An easy test would be to shim the saddle up by 2/64" (raising the action 1/64" at the 12th fret) and see if that solves the issues.
    Jeff Rohrbough
    "Listen louder, play softer"

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