low action and strings stiffness...

[eiopago]

hi,
i have a little problem and wanna ask you people if you can help.
i have a usa ke-2 which i`ve set up with 0.10-0.52 d`addario strings.
now, i have about 0.05 relief on the neck at 12th fret, so the neck is not straight but almost i`d say.
i have also lowered the bridge to get the action as low as possible but not to the point to have bad strings buzz.
the problem is that the strings feel a bit too stiff to me now.
is this normal?
for example, watching some dave mustaine`s videos i can see ( not clearly of course) that his action is pretty low but still he runs so quickly throught the fretboard that the strings seem to feel so soft.
he barely needs to apply pressure on them...
how would that be possible (i know it`s also a matter of technique)?
if it`s not, are you people happy to have stiff strings to obtain low action?

thanks a lot in advance

[VitaminG]

I think it's just a matter of perception. The height of your action should have no bearing on the tension of your strings. Whatever your action, the strings are still suspended between two points over a set distance tuned to a certain pitch. Unless raising or lowering your action is changing the effective string length, in which case it would be changing your intonation also & you should notice the pitch changing too.

[eiopago]

hi,
thanks for the reply.
what you say makes perfect sense but i do not think that the strings feel stiffer because of my perception.
in fact it`s a little harder to bend them...
not that i have troubles doing that but if i could keep the same action and have a softer feel on the strings would be my ideal set up.
just 1 doubt i have.
could it be that the bending is a little harder not because of the increased stiffness on the strings but because of the fact that there is less space between the strings and the fretboard due to the lower action?

[VitaminG]

I wonder if it is actually harder to bend, or if it just seems harder now that your action is lower. You would have previously had to make more effort (with the higher action) to press the strings down to the frets, and that's before you tried bending the strings.

Now, you don't have to press as hard because your action is lower, so you can use a lighter touch when playing. But bending will still be just as hard and will seem relatively more difficult compared to before, when you had higher action.

Just my theory, anyway

[slash]

hi,
could it be that the bending is a little harder not because of the increased stiffness on the strings but because of the fact that there is less space between the strings and the fretboard due to the lower action?

Yes, with low action it's harder to bend because you can't get under the strings like with higher action. Now you are fighting to keep the strings from slipping under your fingers because the action is low. On the other hand it should be easier to fret notes because you have less distance between the frets and the strings. You may try raising the action up just a bit till you find the sweet spot for you.

[37fiat]

I agree with what Slash said.
Chances are that your fingers just aren't used to the new bending position, as a different part of your fingertip is doing the bending now. It's extremely slight, but your fingers get very used to doing things a certain way, and maybe a little more time with it is all you need to get the old feeling back.
I just did the same thing on my guitar, and it felt odd for the first week or so. Now the bends are feeling a lot more natural and "easier", but I still feel it's easier to bend with a slightly higher action, however I'm enjoying the lower action for fast stuff.