Lowering the action

[Barry Platnick]

Does lowering the action on a mandolin always reduce the volume?
Conversely does raising the action increase the volume?
thanks

[Jonathan Peck]

In my opinion...No, and no. Right now around here, the weather is transitioning. Humidity levels aren't dangerously low and will be rising. Eventually as humidity rises, the top will swell and the action will come up some. Definitely not a good time of year for a set-up. That said, once your action is set to where the strings won't 'buzz' for the way that you play, I don't think raising it further will do anything more than allow you to play harder without getting string buzz.

[Barry Platnick]

Can I just lower the bridge some or should I take it in to get the action lowered?

[Jonathan Peck]

I like to use 1/8" at the twelfth fret as a starting point and tweak it down from there. If you want to raise the action, it's a good idea to slack off the strings first. When I've got my action set where I like it, I usually raise it just a hair more, double check intonation and make sure the bridge base is level with the mandolin top and not leaning forward. I also check the lateral position of the bridge. If I've had to slack off and re-tension the strings a number of times, I'll change them out as I think that this deadens them.

Also, if I find that the mandolin is not playing easily up the neck, I take it in to have the neck looked at for a minor truss rod adjustment. I find that the amount of relief in the neck affects a mandolins preferred playability as much as action height. When you get both set just the way you like it....you should be able to tell in the future when things move a little bit.

[mandopete]

1/8" would #be 8/64th's, that's pretty high in my opinion. #I think 4/64ths is probably more in line with a "medium" action. #Most measurements of action come down to 64th's of an inch. #You can find rulers at you local hardware store that break it down to this level.

I also measure the action from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the string.

[Jim Broyles]

1/8 = 8/64, and is a tad high IMO. 5/64 works great for me.

[CollingsPicker]

I don't know about anyone else, but when I lowered my action it DID lower my volume. But I can sacrifice some volume, in exchange for a mandolin that is easy to play.

[250sc]

Cutter,

Without knowing anything about your instrument it's hard to give a good answer to your question about lowering the bridge or take it to someone else. On the other hand if you get a good professional setup (nut adjustment, bridge seating and adjustment and fretwork if needed) you'll know that you're getting the most from your instrument.

Good luck.

[mandroid]

Raising the action allows you to flog it harder [Sforzando] with out the string amplitude hitting the frets.
but if pick effort remains the same the sound level will not be drastically different

[JGWoods]

Lowering the bridge will reduce the break angle over it, and thereby the downforce on the top, so, that might give less output for a given amount of input if it was at the optimum spot in the first place. But it might not.
And, it's a mighty small change in angle when you just lower a little bit, probably not enough change to detect a difference versus just playing a little harder or softer

[Barry Platnick]

Well I took it to my local luthier (woodsongs in boulder CO)

"It" by the way is a KILLER sounding F5G that I just got from mandodan(thats why I dont want the sound to change too much)

He felt that to get it to play the way I want it to, it needs more than raising the bridge but less than a total setup overhaul so I'm gonna go with that.
Thanks fo the tips.

[Mr. Loar]

I believe that higher action equals increases in volume and vice versa. Also, if you adjust the action you should also check the intonation. Raising or lowering the action alters the intonation of the instrument.

[MikeEdgerton]

Funny how truisms come and go.

[Jonathan Peck]

How true, go figure

[f5loar]

When the subject of action comes around I always go back to how the Father of Bluegrass had his. Real high or at least until he got in his late 70's. So real men don't lower their action. They get it as high as possble without pain and then 2 more turns.

[MikeEdgerton]

If you can't use the e strings to slice cheese at the 12th fret then it just ain't right.

[Bob DeVellis]

Often, raising the action will increase volume but not always. I don't know why, but some instruments seem to lose some volume when the action is set too high. I've lowered action for comfort reasons on a couple of occasions and, to my surprise, the volume and tone seemed a bit better. On other instruments, lowering the action produced the exact opposite effect. I think it depends on how the instrument is built and what situations it has been optimized for.

[MandoBen]

"The Dude" had an interesting point on this subject at the Mandolin Symposium last year. He felt it was more about the player and the amount of effort used to fret and pick the notes. If I understand him right, he was telling us that lower action and large frets make it easier to seat your fingertips right behind the fret with a minimum of energy expenditure for truer notes, faster playing and loudest possible volume from your instrument. I do believe it's true when it comes to a very well made, sensitive, responsive instrument, but I don't know if it would make much of a difference on something of lesser quality.

[mandopete]

I agree. #Raising your action will not, in and of itself, increase the volume. #There are many, many factors at play here and you are just going to have experiment to see what works. #I believe there is a point of diminishing return when it comes to the increase in pressure to the top of mandolin as a result of raising the action. #I think it's this factor that gets the most attention when people say that an increase in the action equals an increase in volume.