Action height

String height at a stated fret, quoted almost universally at the twelfth fret on electric guitars and at the twelfth or fourteenth on acoustics.

The measurement is taken from the crown of the fret to the underside of the string, and it is the number two players compare when they disagree about how a guitar feels. Manufacturers publish factory figures for it, so it works as a reference point in a shop. Height at the twelfth is a compromise: it must clear the fret plane enough to avoid buzz under a firm picking attack while staying low enough that barre chords and fast lines do not wear the hand out.

Example: raising action height slightly on the bass side of an acoustic commonly cures a rattle that only appears on hard-strummed low strings.

Action height

See also