The Story On Chet's Action, My Action

[Rodney]

Well, you can call it high if this makes you happy. Some people say it is raining when the sun's shining. It was so low as Ray said, you could barr it at the 12th fret with your little finger...Chet hated it high..Thanks again Ray..

[Eddie Estes]

Whatever Rodney!


http://www.misterguitar.us/cbimg/PaulFAQ.html#action

[albertgen]

I played Chet's Gibson Country Gent and his Peaver at the 86 convention. The action was normal or slightly higher pretty much the way mine are. I always thought guitars ring better with slightly higher action.

[John Knowles]

Guys, I played several of Chet's guitars over the years and I noticed that the action was even and suited each guitar. His guitars seemed easy to play because they just felt right. i guess I never thought about high or low. Remember that Chet liked a zero fret in some instances. A zero fret produces a very even action. You get that same effect when you capo the first fret. If your gutar feels very different with a capo, then the nut is likely a little uneven. That is, the strings are riding at different heights above the fingerboard. I have found that when I get the nut set up right, the action feels good over a range of high and low action. I hope I have explained this in a way that makes sense. Typing is so much trickier than picking.

John

[Doug_H]

I've always been skeptical that this pic shows Chet's setup. The strings look to be loosened to the point of being floppy since they are so skewed on the attachment bar of the tailpiece. It appears to be in the middle of being serviced for something and the bridge may have been run up just to get clearance to clean under it.

[Norm]

bridge may have been run up just to get clearance to clean under it..."
That makes no sense, Doug. If you want to clean under it you just lift the bar off the posts. As for the skewed attachments at the bar I've seen pictures of Chet playing his guitar and the strings at the bar attachment aren't aligned. On the back of one of his LP's is such a shot in black and white with Charlie McCoy behind him. He just may not have been fussy about that.

If you look at the other picture I posted it looks to me like the gap between the bottom of the thumbscrews and the base of the bridge is pretty high. I have a 1961 single cut which is essentially the same and the gaps on mine appear to be nowhere near that high.

Clearly there is a vast disparity of opinion here. Paul has maintained for years that Chet preferred a high action uncomfortable for most players most of his life.

Even in this thread some who claim to have played Chet's guitars and some say the action was uncomfortably high and others say it was low. Could be the difference in personal taste and hand strength. Who knows? I do know my grip and attack sound terrible on a low action guitar strung with really light strings because I tend to play a lot acoustically and consequently my attack snaps really light strings on the fingerboard like rubber bands. I need a bit heavier guage and a higher action to keep my strings from slapping the fingerboard when I play. The rocker may think my action too high. The perspective has a lot to do with what you're used to I think.

I tend to believe Paul and those who say the action was uncomfortably high to other guitarists and I imagine that would be in his Gretsch years. When he went to Gibson he favored his classicals and CE guitars and nylon strings do not require the strong right hand attack he used in his early and Gretsch years so maybe he dropped the action on his Gibson gents.

There's certainly no reason to get into a war about it. No matter how Chet had his set you're still going to set your action to suit yourself aren't you? Sure you are.

As I said, I tend to side with Paul's statements. He had over 25 years of hands on experience with Chet's guitaring

But that's just my opinion and on a grand scale of things my opinion has no meaning at all.

Nor should it.

[guitarchuck]

My guess is that Chet's action may have varied from time to time and from guitar to guitar. Everyone should adjust their guitar action by 1/32" or 1/64" and see what happens, either lower or higher. It don't sound like very much, but you would be amazed at the difference in feel and or playability. It's all in what a person gets used to. I'm told that Jerry Reed liked super low action. Some of my friends like theirs that way, especially the tele, strat guys. I like mine about where that Gibson spec is. But I'm sure you can measure all my guitars and they all vary a little. Like Norm said:

There's certainly no reason to get into a war about it. No matter how Chet had his set you're still going to set your action to suit yourself aren't you? Sure you are.

[Doug_H]

That makes no sense, Doug. If you want to clean under it you just lift the bar off the posts.

If you didn't intend to re-string it, and you were cleaning it and doing a setup , you might just back the strings off so you could run the bridge up. I'm just speculating...it's not a battle as far as I know. Relax. It really doesn't matter to me. He set them up however he set them up and played just fine, regardless of the socks he might be wearing.

[Ray Cummins]

Didn't realize we would have this many comments. Once at Mr Haile's house Chet had dropped off the classical that is in the Smithsonian. Hascal said, wait till you see this. I stayed at Hascal's all night about 25 times. Hascal was a great man and was always promoting me. Plus I bought 4 guitars. Anyhow, when he took that out of the case, I couldn't believe it. It was one of the best nylon playing guitars ever. A kid could play it. My friend Ed Powers loved it. Everyone wanted to buy it. This is before Paul played with Chet. I'll say it one more time, it pressed down like butter. Don't understand what the problem is on here.
One of Paul's first shows with Chet, I have it on tape, Chet played Hascal's guitar. Louisville pops. Hascal's birthday. Great show. 8 - 10,000 people. Chet played A Man And A Woman. John Knowle's arrangement, and a great one. Also Yellow Bird, Dizzy Fingers, The Entertainer, Colonel Bogey, Recuerdos, Black Mt Rag and a Christmas medley. These were all on the nylon. Plus many on the electric. Great show. I was young and excited. Wow! Chet wanted Hascal to stand up in the audience. Couldn't see him. Chet said, HE'S PROBABLY IN THE CHEAP SEATS. HA! My dad taped it. Paul was selling his nylon string for $500, it wasn't a Haile. Played really nice. Anyhow, Me and Hascal and my dad were backstage with Chet. Hascal was excited. What a thrill seeing and hearing his guitar played by Chet. So, they were showing the guitar around. Hascal had me playt it. Remembr, My dad is taping. It played like pressing butter. I told Hascal this plays great, so easy to press. Quote from cassette. Chet said, very easy action..There you go.......

[Norm]

Different people say they tried different guitars belonging to Chet with different opinions on what the action was. Some say it was high to the point of near discomfort, some say it was not.

Ray, you yourself started the commentary by saying some people remarked your guitar action ‘was a little high’. You say it is not . Perhaps to some people your action is high. It's a matter of perspective. I also think people who make a living playing tend to have stronger hands than those who do not. That might be a factor.

In any case, as the old tv dramas would say 'the testimony is in' and people can make up their own minds about whether or not Chet did or did not have a high action. People change over the years and its' very possible Chet fiddled with his action from time to time. I know I have.
The only thing I can see worth considering is that, over the years, some players, (including Paul) have said that with a higher action you get a better tone.

What difference should it make to those of us who play whether Chet had a high action or not?