Intonation Freak? Anyone else?

[andresbriceno]

Dont know about you guys but im obsessed with intonation.

G string haunts me!!!

Are there any magical ways to better the intonation of my guitars? I know It cant be perfect

Any super techniques?

I have a Telecaster Deluxe
and a Jazzmaster U.S.A

Took it to a tech, but im not really satisfy.

Can a Fender always be set up for perfection or theres always gonna be sharps and Flats?

[trevorus]

There are some tuning systems and such that are meant to address this kind of thing. The Buzz Feiten system does that, IIRC.

The G string is my least favorite string as well.

[Plugger]

"Compensated nuts" such as Earvana are designed to help overcome the inherent intonations problems of the type you describe. I've never tried a guitar with one installed, but some people here think they're wonderful. At least that they _sound_ wonderful. (A bit lacking in the visual aesthtics department, IMHO -- but hey, no free lunch.)

-Mark

[frank thomson]

Nothing's perfect. In fact I believe the quest for perfect intonation and digital tuners has messed with modern music big time. I mean what did we do without all of these things before?

[Marcondo]

The trick is dont do any measurments at the open strings and 12th fret like you have always been told to do. The distance from the bottom of the slots in the nut to the 1st fret throws it off so you gonna get the nut out of the picture for a more accurate job.

The way I do it is capo at the 5th fret. Make sure the big E is tuned so it reads A like it supposed to and check at the 17th fret.

Do each string likewise and once your done chords played up higher on the neck will sound more intune.

I learned this over 30 years ago here in Bakersfield from an old Tele/Jazz player.

[curtisstetka]

I have an Earvana nut on my tele. It does look ugly but it's not really all that noticeable.

What is noticeable is the marked improvement in intonation, especially in the lower frets. I'm a true believer. It has really solved the dilemma for me. I heartily recommend Earvana.

[JAM]

I've played with too many horn players to worry about intonation.

[boobtube21]

I got lucky with the strat I just bought, I think the nut was cut very well from the factory.

I intonated it normally on the top three strings, but I made the fretted note EVER so slightly flat compared to the harmonic on the bottom three, slightly less so on the high E string. It is as close to perfectly intonated as I have ever heard in my 18 years of playing, and probably as close as you can get.

My ES-335, however, has been something of a problem child. The second fret plays flat, especially on the D string. This was instantly apparent from the first A chord I played, and it drove me absolutely insane. I tried in vain to correct it myself. I ended up taking it to a tech, who did a set up, and it got a little better.

Now I can still hear it if I think about it and listen for it, but for the most part I don't even notice it because the thing sounds so good.

[refin]

I've played with too many horn players to worry about intonation.

[andresbriceno]

The trick is dont do any measurments at the open strings and 12th fret like you have always been told to do. The distance from the bottom of the slots in the nut to the 1st fret throws it off so you gonna get the nut out of the picture for a more accurate job.

The way I do it is capo at the 5th fret. Make sure the big E is tuned so it reads A like it supposed to and check at the 17th fret.

Do each string likewise and once your done chords played up higher on the neck will sound more intune.

I learned this over 30 years ago here in Bakersfield from an old Tele/Jazz player.

Yo say calibrate or set up the saddles with the capo on the fifth or just calibrate it normaly and than just tune it with the capo on?
thanks

[Guitar_Mc]

"Compensated nuts" such as Earvana are designed to help overcome the inherent intonations problems of the type you describe. I've never tried a guitar with one installed, but some people here think they're wonderful. At least that they _sound_ wonderful. (A bit lacking in the visual aesthtics department, IMHO -- but hey, no free lunch.)

-Mark

I don't get the "compensated nuts" thing. I mean, the frets are still straight. You wouldn't want compensated frets, might make bending difficult.

[boobtube21]

Yeah, I don't get that either. When you pay a fretted note, the nut is completely out of the equation, right? Marcondo's intonation suggestion seems to back this up.

[curtisstetka]

Guys, it works. What more is there to get?

Think of it like this - the saddles adjust because the strings need to be of slightly different length from each other in order to intonate properly.

Well, what does that mean? That means that when you fret the 12th fret you truly are stopping the string precisely at the place that will sound an octave higher than the open string.

So, if the nut is completely straight, that means all of the compensation for string length is on one side of the 12th fret - between #12 and the bridge. That's where the strings are truly of different lengths from each other. From 12 back to the nut they're all the same.

Because of this, as you move away from the 12th fret and toward the nut, on some strings the intonation gets increasingly sour until at the 1st fret, the fretted G string in particular is horrendously sharp.

The Earvana nut splits the string length compensation. Some of it is at the bridge, some of it is at the nut. Since installing Earvana, my bridge saddles are a lot flatter across, essentially half the differences they were before.

All I can say is try it - if you don't think it makes a difference then you've only lost $25 or whatever. For me it was the greatest tweak I'd ever done to my guitar. Now I can't play a guitar without it!

[boobtube21]

...the strings need to be of slightly different length from each other in order to intonate properly.

Ok, you got me right there. Now it makes perfect sense. I actually had a revelation about this in another thread about my ES 335, then forgot about it. I decided the groove in the nut for the D string was cut in the wrong place.

Maybe a really clever luthier knows just how to cut the grooves for each string to compensate for this?

[Guitar_Mc]

Thanks for the explanation Curtis.

Maybe I shouldn't investigate further. That made some sense, and if this makes a difference, and it bugs me to not have one on a guitar, It'll cost me a tone to put them on my other guitars...

[curtisstetka]

Ha! Having only one real "serious" guitar and two beaters it's not a big deal for me. I do actually have an Earvana on one of the beaters though...

[fran]

Maybe a really clever luthier knows just how to cut the grooves for each string to compensate for this?

My luthier made me a strat where he moved the first and second fret slightly from the "correct" positions and it intonates great. Anyway he explained that "it's all an approximation" and also that if I used the wound G string it would be out of tune and it also doesn't work on the acoustics. But this thing intonates great with the strings I use

[ES350]

People don't seem to figure in the nut slot height for intonation...it will play sharp if it's too high. Cut it right and the intonation is better as well as the action...