lowering action ?

[cndrt]

I have been playing for a relatively short time, but as my skills have improved I have found that it seems as if having to push the string down a long distance to contact the fret is limiting the speed at wich I can play any particular riff. Would lowering the action help? Any info on methods , measurements,etc. would be greatly appreciated. My guitar is a stock 2yr. old Epi LP standard

[Steelpriest]

Of course, lowering the action makes things easier alot. How flat action has to be depends alot on personal taste. Try to lower the bridge a little to get the strings nearer to the frets. Loosen the strings of your guitar somewhat until they start to be flabby before you screw down the bridge a little, it makes things easier. With proper standard tuning the strings put alot of pressure on the bridge and even if you want to screw it down it is very much easier with loose strings. Try at first just little and re-tune the guitar then. When you are lucky the action now is what you desire and the strings won´t buzz on the frets. If you want the action more lower repeat the procedure. When the strings start buzzing on the frets, you need to adjust the trussrod. A very flat action always requires a proper adjusted trussrod and frets that are equalled in height. Lots of guitars in the mid price range need a fretjob to enable a low action. That means the frets have to be levelled by a guitar tech. I don´t wanna worry you, but first try to lower the bridge somewhat and see what happens. If you have no knowledge about truss rod adjustment ask a guitar tech, and in any case fret levelling is "tech work", never try it yourself... But maybe you achieve a desired and nice action by simply lowering the strings. In most cases the guitar needs to be intonated after changing the action. I also have to add that I came across lots of guitarists that had amazingly high actions on their guitars but were able to play with tremendous speed. It is all a question of personal taste and style. But sure, try to lower your action and see how it feels. I prefer a very low action, it makes playing easier (only my opinion) but makes muting techniques more difficult and you have to get used to it a while... I have two guitars amongst mine that have a higher action for exactly this reason. These guitars are mainly used for recording rhythm guitars on tracks that have a lot of stops or staccato rhythms in order to avoid unwanted sounds from strings that need to be muted. To cut it short: It takes some time to consider what kind of action suits your personal demands and style best.