Action Question

[Casper]

Is it possible to get the same action on a short scale guitar as on a regular?
My Cobra has a spagetti-ness and feels a bit high in the upper registers. The neck is straight, but I thought I read or heard somewhere that because of the shorter scale, thats just the way it is? My tech says that this is a trait of short scale guitars. Is it just me getting used to the Cobra after being a Classic/DT guy for so long? I don't remember this issue when I had an Atom?
Comments?
Also, I thought I read something about a "front bow or back bow" are these conditions corrected by truss rod adjustment or string height?
Shaun

[pipedwho]

Assuming the same string gauge, the action would be extremely close between 24.75" and 25.5" guitars. Yeah, theoretically the lower tension of the short scale will be ever so slightly higher for similar playability. But, the difference in action is negligible IMO.

Back bow/front bow is also called the neck 'relief'. There are two schools of thought on this one. First is to keep the neck straight (ie. zero relief). The second is create a tiny amount of relief to make the neck into a 'ramp' shape so the string's elliptical vibration has a little more room in the middle of the the neck.

Relief is adjusted with the truss rod, but is interdependent on other action adjustments you've made. eg. if you set the bridge saddles higher, change string gauge, or down/up tune the guitar, then the neck relief will change slightly due to different tension/angles on the neck. That's why the truss rod is the last thing you adjust after setting up everything else. (This can be an iterative process if you don't get your other adjustments close enough to start with.)

[tom]

i have a little different opinion on the set up procedure.
there is no reason they can't have the same action height. the tension on the short scale will be lower so the strings will feel looser and they may rattle on the upper frets easier because their excursion will be greater because of the lower tension. i set neck tension before saddles because if you set the saddle height then change the tension rod the action will change and you'll have to r adjust action.
if this is something you don't do every day you'll probably go round and round a little getting it all right though.

[Casper]

So, I was looking down the Cobras neck and I think that is pretty straight. I heard that you need to have a slight bow to accomodate string rattle?
What your saying makes sense Tom. To me, I tap the 6th string anywhere from the 1st to say the 7th fret and from there the gap widens as it goes further up the neck and I felt like I was having to change my attack as I played in the upper registers. 2 different techs have looked and say I have the proper amount of relief. So it may be the saddle adjustment (which I REALLY suck at) I guess it is a feel thing and I need to play with it a bit..since its not an exact science. Thanks Tom and Piped