Intonation question

Phil513

Phil513

Kick Henry Jackassowski
Staff member
So, if the 12th fret is a tad flat compared the the 12th fret harmonic, the saddle needs to move towards the fretboard, right? Effectively shortening the distance.

What if i move it all the way until the screw comes out of the saddle and it's still a tad flat? :embarrassed:
 
IMO,fiddling with stuff like that are aged old questions and problems that there really is no anwser to because every guitar is different..


I've done things to guitars to try and make it sound correct up and down the neck...(to be honest,I think it's just our educated ears,I don't think most people even notice)...


Guitars are just too delicate.....get it close....
 
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well then.....move the bridge. no just kidding. but seriously, the bridge COULD be mis-located, but short of moving it, you may be screwed.

but before you do anything drastic....make SURE you've tested the intonation with more than one set of strings.......strings are bad right out of the package sometimes, and it's not THAT unusual.
 
Its a strat, bridge isn't moving anywhere. :embarrassed:

Maybe I'll try a new set of string, thanks.
 
Its flat enough for me to hear. Its only on the high E string, and up in the wheedly area you can tell its off.

I forget what i have on there, i think 9s. Was learning bending and it helped. :embarrassed: But no, i'm not stuck on any particular size. Just don't really want anything too heavy.
 
You might try a 10 on there.

Is the neck straight? Is the action way higher in the upper frets than the lower ones?
 
Yeah, the neck is straight from what i can tell. The strings are really close to the frets the whole way, no buzzing.

All i have here are 9s and 11s. I'll do some string shopping.
 
I'm out of ideas.

Usually a shim or gauge swap can get you there. If your action is good all the way up the neck, gauge is my last best guess.
 
The last time this happened to me I reset the saddle to its ideal position, changed strings, and everything was fine.

Of course, it’s always possible that the factory put the bridge in the wrong spot. It happens.
 
Yeah, I'll do a string change. Hopefully that does the trick. Thanks guys!
 
Phil513 said:
So, if the 12th fret is a tad flat compared the the 12th fret harmonic, the saddle needs to move towards the fretboard, right? Effectively shortening the distance.

What if i move it all the way until the screw comes out of the saddle and it's still a tad flat? :embarrassed:
Click to expand...

Correct on the first question.

Are you tuned to normal A440?

A string change will help if the string is very old or damaged. Mongooz is right -- I've had bad strings straight out of the pack. It happens sometimes.

9s should be able to intonate just fine. If the saddle is running out of screw, something seems wrong.

The saddles in the picture look really low. I'm surprised you're getting no buzzing. Is the guitar stock or is it a partscaster?
 
USian Pie said:
Correct on the first question.

Are you tuned to normal A440?

A string change will help if the string is very old or damaged. Mongooz is right -- I've had bad strings straight out of the pack. It happens sometimes.

9s should be able to intonate just fine. If the saddle is running out of screw, something seems wrong.

The saddles in the picture look really low. I'm surprised you're getting no buzzing. Is the guitar stock or is it a partscaster?
Click to expand...

Stock Fender Blacktop Strat. Action is really low, but no buzzing.
 
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