Evolving setups:

[Cogs]

I usually never cross-post between here & the LPF but this recent development in my playing has me pretty excited.
So I string up my CS-336 w/a set of "light" (lol) gauge flatwounds for a gig last week. I didn't change a thing on the guitar. The guitar sat in the stand all night because I was afraid to play it. The action was so high it made me sweat! And forget about bending strings.
So the local guitar player & music store owner comes up & says, "What gives?" & I tell him the story. He picks up the guitar & can see the bow in the neck even before sighting it down the edge. He's like, "Lower the action, pull in the truss rod..."
So I do it & now I can't put it down. This guitar plays like a dream, like what I imagined a jazz guitar would feel like when I was just a kid.
Now I'm eyeballing my Fender guitars. I've already lowered the bridge on my Telecaster, & I've almost always preferred a high action on my Fenders. I thought they sounded better that way, & they probably did for the stuff I was playing at the time. Now I want something else.
How has your approach to playing changed the way you set up your guitar?

[Direstraits]

I've normally set mine up & adjust according to Fender "minimum" specs then adjust pick up height to suit, (and start again to adjust neck bow if required) but recently I decided I could hear some faint fret buzz on the low E A & D on a recording, so raised them by nearly 1/64th. It hasn't made a noticeable difference to the way the guitar plays but I can hear the difference. Despite this I'm still pretty much a "low action" fan & I wouldn't want to raise the action any further. Info on setting up Gibsons is harder to find, so I tend to use the Fender specs as a starting point.

[Gravity Jim]

I have never believed the tone myth that guitars sound better with their action set high... Mine are always set up with a virtually flat fingerboard (with just a hair's breadth of relief if needed) and action as low as it will go without buzzing. I dont play "hard," so that can be pretty darn low.

[Kap'n]

I set my action on my fenders higher than my Gibson's because I play them more aggressively. Snapping strings on a fender is part of the sound. It's also necessary if you pull up on the bar.

[Don]

My guitars are all set up about the same with a moderate amount of relief and the action at a medium height. I don't worry about this nearly as much as I used to. They all play well and that's what matters.

[Fripperton]

I've always set up my guitars with as little relief as possible with the action as low as I could get it without buzzing. I'm lazy about it and have never played very hard so I want the fingering to be as easy as possible. I've never understood the concept of struggling with your guitar. I can get the tone to change based on how I attack the strings. I used to compete with my college roommate back in the 70's to see who could get it the lowest with no buzz.

[buckaroo]

I try to keep my necks straight. I do use a fairly high action on Fenders but it can be a bit lower on Gibsons (12 inch radius helps of course). I like the lighter tension of round core strings.

I have, at times, used flat wounds over the years on my 175 and gold top Les Paul (P 90) but I just get frustrated with the tonal difference going from notes on wound strings to plain strings. Going from too dark on the flatwound strings to the brighter plain strings when soloing.

Even on a jazz gig, for me flatwounds is too much. So I use round wound and for jazz I reduce the treble on the 175 tone knob. I suppose I might reconsider if I was doing a Tal Farlow tribute though. Now that guy had flatwound TONE!!!

[refin]

I keep my necks straight as possible; the action is set so that there are no "real" buzzes when I play (as opposed to the normal musical fret rattle of a Fender).Having said that,some of my guitars have a "visual" appearance of higher action,but play fine--I think it is a case of fret size and neck radius.I don't play really hard; still trying to learn slide,so the action must be at least a little forgving for my novice approach.