Adjusting action on a Gibson

James and Chris now start to demonstrate exactly how you measure and adjust action on a Gibson style guitar. To measure action effectively, you will need a few tools, which the guys will walk you through in this lesson.

Summary: Standard action heights

For the sake of this video, we will be working towards a standard action height, which is three 32nds on the low string and two 32nds on the high string. If you are unsure as to what action you should work towards, this is a safe bet and will work for most rock / blues players. To be able to accurately measure and adjust the action, we need the following tools:

1. 6" rule with 32nds & 64ths

The ruler needs to have fine measurements as we are dealing in very subtle changes when adjusting the string height.

2. Small spanner

This isn't a necessity, but a small spanner like this well help you easily adjust the bridge height. It will also help t stop you damaging the bridge in any way by using more clunky, heavy duty tools.

Checklist: Changing the action

When you come to measure and change your action, here is a simple checklist that will help guide you through the process.

• 1. Get your guitar into pitch
• 2. Take the ruler and place it on the 12th fret, measuring from fret to string
• 3. Measure the height on the low E string and the high E string
• 4. Based on your factory specs, or the basic measurements in the text above, decide if you need to go up or down on either side
• 5.Use the spanner to turn the cogs on both sides of the neck. Remember that clockwise will lower the action and anti-clockwise will raise it. Two or three turns is enough
• 6. Tune the guitar again and then re-measure, repeat until you hit the required measurements.