Lets talk guitar action a sec...

I find millimeter scale to be more precise. My Guild 12 is at 3mm from the fret metal on the last fret. Still I feel I need to be the incredible hulk to play at length. 3mm is basically 8th inch, shouldn't bitch maybe. Guess I need to work out grip and fingers? 6 string is easier a lot. You 12 stringers here, you find 12 string much more complicated dexterity wise.

Just because you've got 12 strings, doesn't mean you have to hit them all. I use a whole lot of 3 finger chords, regardless of what the diagrams show. The discordance and general jangly resonance of the unfretted strings is part of the 12-string sound. If anybody asks you, just say you're making an AminordiminishedseventhlefthandedC, or something.

John: I am not sure how exactly you measure action on your guitar. Usually action is measured at the 12th fret!
And if it would be exactly 3.0mm at the 12th fret (low e-string), which is 1/8" or 8/64", that is a bit higher than factory spec which is 5.5/64" to 6/64" for the low e-string. Those added 2/64" make a difference.

But also it depends if you have adjusted your truss rod first?
Always adjust the truss rod first and second adjust the action, not vice versa.
And the guitar need to be tuned to pitch when you do it.

Here is a good Taylor tech sheet about it: http://c3.zzounds.com/media/truss_rod_adjustment-c53669fbee160b82ed2b3d44fed49ac3.pdf

Now after you are 100% sure that your truss rod is set correctly, you can now check the action on the 12th fret.

In a previous Guild owners manual Guild wrote for the 12th fret test:
On the low E string: The gap should be from .085" to .093" (5.5/64" to 6/64").
On the high E string: The gap should be .070" to .078" (4.5/64" to 5/64").

Since I posted Taylor's tech sheets as example, they use 6/64" (low e-string) and 4/64" (high e-string) as standard settings.

Here is their guide for checking the action (and adjusting the saddle if needed): http://c3.zzounds.com/media/action-7ff530daa50f07b282eb101094a987d4.pdf

Using a 6" ruler (with 1/32" and 1/64" increments) does an excellent job here. I bought such one from an Automotive shop, as millimeter is not fine enough for action measurements.
That below right picture shows already a slightly too high action (8/64" instead of 6/64" in that case).



Ralf

John, Ralf's post is exactly correct regarding factory set up specs, and I'll add that they never made a distinction about 12-string action height, that I ever saw.
Some folks even feel Guild's 6/64ths is a bit high, although I think it's perfect for my style, on 6-ers.
Charliea has even said he likes his action w-a-a-ay low on his 12-ers, as low as he can go without getting any buzzing, but I forget how low that is. I just remember arguing with him about whether Guild had a responsibility to make the bridge low enough to allow enough saddle to go as low as he wanted since it was outside their spec, it was related to a possible warranty claim.
In the end it turned out one of his guitars had legitimate issues that were causing problems for him, but the main point is that he may have some insight on tweaking the action on your guitar based on all the Guild 12's he's owned. It'll probably involve sanding the saddle dowon a bit and likely the nut slots too, and that job is best left to a pro with the proper tools (nut slot files).
Just sayin' that there's no reason a Guild 12-er can't fret just about as easily as a 6-er, with the proper setup. To me, the hurdle would be nut width. I was almost painfully aware of it the last time I played my buddy's JF30-12.

adorshki said:

To me, the hurdle would be nut width.

Click to expand...

Al: John's 1978 D25-12 should have 1 7/8" nut width as far as I can find, very comfortable I would say. One more item to check is how good the frets are, sometimes if the frets are old and flat it is much harder to push the strings down especially the thinner one of each pair.
Ralf

SFIV1967 said:

Al: John's 1978 D25-12 should have 1 7/8" nut width as far as I can find, very comfortable I would say.

Click to expand...

I was just saying for me, I have small hands, I even have trouble with a 1-3/4 nut.
Just wanted to point out to John that nut width can be a factor in "feel" too.

Won't repeat here as I responded in the OP's earlier thread...he can check there.

If he doesn't do his own set ups, it might help to know where he's located so that someone familiar with his area may be able to recommend a good tech.

And, remember, he might not be in the US either.

Without seeing you play, it's difficult to tell whether your issues are playing style, the guitar itself, or both...

As well as how long you've been playing guitar and what style of music you play...if you're playing blues, for example, and doing a lot of string bending...yes, that would be more difficult on a twelve string.