Action, Tapping And A Beginner Player, Guidance for setting action on a guitar and tapping Options

[F Minor]

This is really two topics in one post, so here goes...

I'm starting to learn tapping and running into some painful difficulties. When trying to tap the 19-15-12 Em arpeggio, I'm seriously hurting my pick hand finger by jamming it super hard into the 19th fret to get a good sound out of the string, but all I keep getting are whimpy sounds (unless I really smash my finger into the string producing lots of pain (which is not fun). I have a Parker NiteFly Mojo guitar and using line6's insane setting (which should be good for things like tapping since it's got lots of gain, etc.). I am wondering whether (i) I should take the pain and build up and good callus on my pick-hand finger, continuing to smash it super hard into the string to get any sound at all, or (ii) it's an issue of setting the action higher to get more distance between the string and the fret, or (iii) something else entirely? Any more experienced players want to offer some tips / advice on this?

Thanks!

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