Peter, please ignore the remark about the action diminishing from the neck shape. I made the mistake of thinking something over in my mind without actually playing. My thinking about fret height/action came from the following thought process:

I tend to prefer my action a bit on the high side to prevent fret buzz.

My touch varies from feather soft to an SRV-ish thunk (sometimes both extremes in a single phrase). The light playing survives a low(er) action but the more aggressive attack requires a bit of height. For example, if I fret one note and mute all the others and give it a good old "Live at the El Mocambo" strum, it will sound out the fretted note and a chunk sound at the same time. When adding more force to the strumming hand, the fretted note becomes louder (obviously) and the chunk becomes a CHUNK.

I also play with a rest strokes at times, allowing the pick or finger (I use a hybrid picking style) to come to rest on the next string. This produces a more pronounced tone but also requires higher action.

Some people may try to approach this from a volume issue (amp and guitar electronics) and simply say, "Let the amp do the work." I prefer to have the primary volume controlled by my varying my attack while using the guitar/amp electronics as a secondary source of control.

It is simply not possible for me to play with low action due to the fret buzz. I could reduce/eliminate the buzz by limiting my attack but in doing so I think I limit my range of expression.

I thought that the higher action and frets would be the equivalent of adding a slight bit of mass to the neck (from a fretting standpoint, not tone-wise), due to the extra bit of distance my fingers/thumb would need to reach the string. The idea made sense without a guitar in my hand.

However, after actually playing (what a concept!) I realized the neck shape/size matters after the note is fretted and not before (again disregarding tone and just dealing with the mechanics of fretting).

In the future, I'll make every attempt post only after I've thought in through and played it through (not always in that order).

As a side note, the good news is that these posts are being read by others and perhaps someone out there will read this and say, "Hey, I do the same thing and was wondering if..." I know I've saved thousands of dollars (and potentially tens of thousands when it's all said and done) just by spending time going through the forums where experienced builders/players can have their voices heard above the roar of marketing departments. Beware of the opinions of a man who stands to make a commission. I've spent years being informed/misled by guitar magazines and advertising departments. It's interesting when a corporation tells you one thing and several dozen players/builders with decades of experience/experiments tell you something else.

A very big THANK YOU, not just to Peter, but to EVERYONE that has shared their experience and insight in these forums.

-Lafayette Hankins