Balancing action and playability.

Edited: December 17, 2025, 10:32 PM · This is something I didn't think I'd be pondering on, but I've recently re-evaluated my setup preferences. Historically I've always set my action as low as possible, about 3mm on the E and 5.5 on the low string. This is decidedly outside the norm, which is for a higher action. A holdover from my experience with electric guitars, and it was very comfortrto play on. But lately I'd been unsatisfied with the clarity of pizz, and string buzz when I really dug in. So I made a new bridge and set everything 1.5mm higher, which brings it up to the standard height.
The sound is how I want it now. But it really gets fatiguing to play! Specifically up on the E and A. I'm starting to contemplate moving away from my beloved Spirocores to something a bit more pliable because the effort of getting the strings dowm gets in the way.
Has anyone else experienced this? Given it any thought or found a solution? It's been years since I used anything but Spirocores, and even longer since I played on a high action.

Replies (3)

Richard Jackson

December 17, 2025, 11:08 PM · I had one violin with a low action and didn't care for it much; right now most of mine have custom cut bridges just a tiny bit lower than standard, which is exactly what I like. Personally, I won't use Spirocores again after trying them on one violin; currently I use Warchal Amber's on my Guarneri bench copy, Larsen Il Cannone Soloist on my old French violin, and still experimenting on my modern Italian; currently have Dominant Pros on it and they are ok but not great.

Christian Harvey

December 18, 2025, 1:49 AM · Spirocores have a total tension of 50.8 according to Thomastik, which isn't super heavy as far as strings go, but just enough to be too much with your new setup. You could try starting with some Dominants and see what that does. They're quite a bit softer, so that may do the trick, but based on Thomastik's sound chart, they will likely be quite different from the Spirocores.

Christian Lesniak

December 18, 2025, 2:43 AM · I've never had low action, but I wonder if you might need to adjust how much you press as well. I could imagine getting used to pressing the string down to the fingerboard with a really low action, so perhaps it could be worth exploring whether there is a new minimum needed pressure, and if you might be depressing the strings more than necessary out of a long time of conditioning.

Maybe spend a bit with Schradieck and see just how much or little you need to get that *pop* to articulate how you want?

Balancing action and playability.

Replies (3)

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