How hard is it to intonate a guitar?

[David.W]

How hard is it to intonate a guitar?

Can anyone post some web sources? I usually send mine out when it needs it, but its just something Id like to know how to do. no-one looks after your gear like you do right...

Thanks

 

[stokes]

Just play a harmonic on the 12th fret then fret the string at the 12th.If the fingered note is sharper than the harmonic move the bridge saddle away from the neck,if it is flat compared to the harmonic move the saddle closer to the neck.

 

[Guitarzan]

Just remember "Flat Forward" it's better to have an accurate tuner as well.

 

[David.W]

Peterson strobo as of last week baby!

 

[David.W]

So talk to me about the truss rod...

 

[stokes]

Unless there is some problem with the neck,dont mess with it.There are some who believe that if you change string gauges you have to adjust the truss rod.In over 35 years,2 teenage sons who switched between .09 to as high as .13's more times than I can remember I have never had to adjust the truss rod for a string change.And that is with 3 different Fenders,2 Gibsons and a PRS.The only time I ever touch the truss rod is when doing a fret job to get the neck perfectly straight for leveling,have never had to adjust for string gauge changes.Best to leave it alone.It is not a good idea to experiment with it.If the neck doesnt have a problem I would advise you to leave it be.

 

[David.W]

Unless there is some problem with the neck,dont mess with it.There are some who believe that if you change string gauges you have to adjust the truss rod.In over 35 years,2 teenage sons who switched between .09 to as high as .13's more times than I can remember I have never had to adjust the truss rod for a string change.And that is with 3 different Fenders,2 Gibsons and a PRS.The only time I ever touch the truss rod is when doing a fret job to get the neck perfectly straight for leveling,have never had to adjust for string gauge changes.Best to leave it alone.It is not a good idea to experiment with it.If the neck doesnt have a problem I would advise you to leave it be.

Thanks for the great and fast reply

question, I have sent my new Gison Firebird V away twice now to be intonated and now I have the Peterson Im able to accurately compare the 1st and 12th when I get the instument back. I notice G is still out slightly even though in open tuning im bang on. I cant adjust the saddle as its already all the way back on the G. Now when I say out I mean you couldnt play nice bar cords around the 12th with out noticing it, but you could solo and hide it.

 

[SabuJSE]

The G string on short scale Gibsons is always an issue. Something I've been dealing with myself on my SG lately. I have found that having as straight a neck as possible, as well as making sure that there is plenty of tension from the bridge to the tailpiece, will help this as lots of tension is needed for the unwound G string.

The problem is even worse if you are using .009's as opposed to .010's or .011's

 

[stokes]

I like to use the wound g string.It tunes much better,than the plain.There just isnt enough tension on the g string to comfortably tune a plain string.I use .11's now but even when I used .10's I would always try to find single wound g's close enough to use as subs.It looks like your bridge is set to far forward to accurately intonate that g string.Try a wound g,it should help some.

 

[Russ]

Setting intonation is not hard. What it is is time consuming. It takes a while because to do it properly you have to let the guitar readjust itself as well. It is always best to let the guitar have a little time to readjust to things like tension differences before further making changes. There are some products out there that will certainly help you with your setup but really the best thing that they could ever make is a time machine to help hurry up the process. In time any adjusment you make to your neck or you string tension will make the guitar have to compensate for it. You can do your setup one day but depending upon your guitar and environmental conditions it might not be right the next or even later that day. If you are not really experienced with performing a proper setup leave it to someone that does or you may really screw up your guitar. I learned this from experience.

Having played fixed bridge setneck Gibson guitars for decades ( :shock: I just dated myself...) I have learned to deal with the Gibson's tuning issues. I find that a set of at least 10s helps. Too many people try to just stick 9s on a guitar setup for 10s. To make string gauge changes you really need a full setup. There are cases where many will not notice changes in the guitar without a proper setup after a gauge change but like I mentioned before tension will make the guitar react. If you do a gauge change you need to be sure that you adjust your nut and intonation settings. The G string phenomenon that most find can be worked with and made very minimal.

Be sure to adjust your pickups too if you do any work to your guitar relating to string height or gauge.

Something to consider too is the wrap around on the tail piece as it affords for less tension at the saddle because your angle of approach for the string is reduced and allows your string to last a little longer. I would not do this to a vintage tailpiece due to the value of the guitar but I would certainly not sweat it on a more modern piece.

 

[David.W]

Thanks for the posts guys. Thanks for the lengthy answer Russ, im going to start intonating my own guitar, if not for the sake of learning about it, for the sake of saving a few bucks too, but i'll bare your comments about experience Russ and i'll take very small steps forward.

Im going to let the Firebird rest for a few days and then look into it again, i'll run out this week and buy what I need. My LP Custom seems alot more balanced than the firebird, but the enigma of the 'g' string is still there with the LP as well, even the 'B' sometimes.

Ive seen the strings wrapped over the tailpiece as well, but honestly when I saw this I thought, im to sloppy and my palm rests there sometimes, it might be annoying.

I use 10's btw both guitars where *cough*"set -up" by Gibson this way and I like the weight of thembut intonating them to be perfect has been a challenge.