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Intonation question...

AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
edited April 2006 in Musicians and Gearheads
I only have a cheap SG copy, which always seems out of tune, even right after I have tuned it correctly. Have never really worried about trying to adjust it (prefer playing my Fender acoustic anyway), but today I started reading some threads on intonation and decided to have a go at fixing it up. I managed to get 5 of the 6 strings adjusted correctly, but the G string is still about a quarter note higher at the 12th fret than at the open position. The problem is that I can't adjust it any further than it already is. Is this caused by something else, or is it just my guitar. Am actually keen to sort this out now, as it sounds 100% better than it did before, besides the G string that is....
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Posts: 12,223
    I'd take it to a good guitar shop where you (a) will get good advice and (b) won't get ripped off. The people at the guitar shop should only charge you very little for the tweaking. I do my own intonation tweaking, but I know some real, virtuoso guitarists who still use their local guitar doc for seemingly simple things.
  • leethalleethal Posts: 134
    I'd never really though about that. I have a crappy Les Paul (still sounds good though) but when i stick a capo on a couple of frets down it does tend to get out of tune quite a bit and needs tweaking.
  • enharmonicenharmonic Posts: 1,917
    Sounds like you need a proper setup...possibly a new nut and a fret level.

    Unless the neck is warped, you should be able to fix your intonation as much as it can be fixed with a good setup and a properly cut nut.
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  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    I don't know what kind of bridge you have on that thing, but hopefully this is your problem:

    First make sure the neck is straight. If it's bowed out then you'll sound sharp at the 12th fret because you're shortening the string when you're fretting up there.
    If the neck is straight and it's that one string that won't intonate, maybe the saddle is sitting so that the point is forward:

    Nut
    |\ -- Tailpiece
    You may be able to unscrew the adjusting screw all the way out and turn that one saddle around so the point (the part that the string sits on) is towards the tail piece and it'll give you a bit more room to get it intonated.

    Nut
    /| -- Tailpiece (Nice artwork! :D)

    I see a lot of cheaper guitars that have the bridge placed in the wrong place and makes it unadjustable. (An amazing amount of Gibson Les Pauls, too! )
    Two ways of fixing it if you can't adjust it by doing the above:
    One is to pull the bridge and studs that hold it to the body, fill it with a hardwood dowel, and glue, then redrill the bridge studs back towards the saddle a bit. It seems scary but it's not really THAT hard and is done all the time.
    The other is to put a different bridge altogether like a schaller or Nashville bridge that have more room for adjustment. You would have to redrill for them anyway, so the dowel method may be the answer if it's a cheap guitar.
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
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  • Kilgore_TroutKilgore_Trout Posts: 7,334
    yah... im having the same problem w/ my tele... im gonna take it to sam ash today or tomorrow tho to get it set up right...
    "Senza speme vivemo in disio"

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  • surferdudesurferdude Posts: 2,057
    Call me a heretic or call me sloppy but I only tune my guitar when it is noticeably out of tune and a day or so after flying with it. A little out of tune just adds some flavor and makes it more human. I want it to bleed the sounds of my heart. I know I'm fucked up enough that my heart is more than a little out of tune so it's only natural guitar should be the same.
    “One good thing about music,
    when it hits you, you feel to pain.
    So brutalize me with music.”
    ~ Bob Marley
  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Posts: 12,223
    surferdude wrote:
    Call me a heretic or call me sloppy but I only tune my guitar when it is noticeably out of tune and a day or so after flying with it. A little out of tune just adds some flavor and makes it more human. I want it to bleed the sounds of my heart. I know I'm fucked up enough that my heart is more than a little out of tune so it's only natural guitar should be the same.


    "Only cowboys want to stay in tune anyway, so what the hell." - Jimi Hendrix
  • StuffnJunkStuffnJunk Posts: 896
    surferdude wrote:
    Call me a heretic or call me sloppy
    you are a heretic, and a sloppy one at that
    "I'll tell you what: If all I had was Pearl Jam, and I didn't have another band in the world, I would not be worried. Because in there is the essence of making great music. You don't have to use it all at once, but it's there." - Neil Young
  • AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
    who's_pearljam? wrote:

    Nut
    |\ -- Tailpiece
    You may be able to unscrew the adjusting screw all the way out and turn that one saddle around so the point (the part that the string sits on) is towards the tail piece and it'll give you a bit more room to get it intonated.

    Nut
    /| -- Tailpiece (Nice artwork! :D)

    Hadn't thought of that..... am off to try it now.
  • AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
    Yep...... that did it. Sounds good now, I might actually play this thing a bit more now, rather than constantly picking up the acoustic!!! Thanks for the info.
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    SG's always seem to have that problem of needing to swap the saddle around. I was gonna suggest the same thing, until I saw Bob beat me to it. And with diagrams, too!
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    I slapped the bridge on my SG backwards when I first got it and changed the strings, because I wasn't paying attention when I was cleaning it up. Flipped the bridge around and now it plays like a dream.
  • AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
    moster78 wrote:
    I slapped the bridge on my SG backwards when I first got it and changed the strings, because I wasn't paying attention when I was cleaning it up. Flipped the bridge around and now it plays like a dream.
    which way was it facing?
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    Lukin4 wrote:
    which way was it facing?

    I can't remember now, but if you look at the notches on the saddles themselves you can see which grooves are bigger for the thicker strings and which notches are smaller for the skinnier strings. For mine, an SG Special, the two saddles that were slanted differently were for the E and A bass strings. Hope this helps.
  • The LurkerThe Lurker Posts: 25
    enharmonic wrote:
    Sounds like you need a proper setup...possibly a new nut and a fret level.

    Unless the neck is warped, you should be able to fix your intonation as much as it can be fixed with a good setup and a properly cut nut.
    Could be, or maybe the neck joint is a bit off. I fixed a friend of mine's guitar once, it always went out about the 14th fret... took the neck off to fix it, and it turns out the previous owner had shimmed the joint with picks, matches, a condom wrapper, you name it.... got all that stuff out of there, put neck back on, adjusted trussrod and nut, end of problem.
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