By Bob Smakula
First, play the guitar. Is there excessive buzzing? Is it too easy to play or do you need hydraulic-assisted fingers? String height is determined by several factors. Nut height, saddle height, neck curvature and neck angle all make one guitar’s action better or worse than another’s. String height can be changed to suit any playing style. My opinion of ideal string height for a steel string guitar (measured from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string at the 12th fret) is 1/16″ at the high E gradually increasing to 3/32″ at the low