Guitar intonation pdf

Even under normal circumstances, periodic intonation is usually necessary, and it is in fact one of the main elements of a setup, which is perhaps the single best maintenance procedure you can have performed on your instrument. Constant fluctuations in intonation are exactly why most guitars are designed with adjustable intonation mechanisms. Intonating a guitar puts it in tune with itself by slightly shortening or lengthening each string , which is done using the adjustable string-length mechanisms found at the bridge.

The bridge saddles over which each string passes can usually be moved forward and backward; that is, closer to and farther from the nut the saddles can also be moved up and down in order to adjust string height, often referred to as action. In that case, the fretted 12th-fret note will sound either sharp or flat compared to the 12th-fret harmonic, and this is where two basic principles come into play.

First, if the tuner indicates that the fretted 12th-fret note is sharper than the 12th-fret harmonic, the string must be slightly lengthened until both pitches read as in tune. That is, the bridge saddle must be moved farther from the nut until both pitches are correct. Second, if the fretted 12th-fret note is flatter than the 12th-fret harmonic, the string must be slightly shortened until both pitches ring in tune. That's awesome.

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Use the Free Trial. Check for a Promo Offer. What is Guitar Intonation? Factors that Affect Guitar Intonation. Dealing with Deep Low-End Intonation. Intonating Problematic High-End Frequencies. Frets and Enemies. Compensation and Other Factors. Tune-o-matic bridge design. Or the staggered notches found in most modern acoustic guitars:. Acoustic '80s saddle with staggered notches. The more string gauge and tension influence deflection, the more compensation is required.

Determining Adjustment Direction. Reading the note as sharp or too short. In order to correct the shortfall, we add some length to the string.

Corrected by adding length. If, in our example, the note were flat, we would simply move in the other direction.

The worst offenders are: Finger pressure. Try to use an even finger pressure that matches your style. Fret wear. Worn frets are terrible for intonation. The difference may be a small amount, but it will make accuracy fall outside the bulls-eye.

Cheap, imperfectly manufactured strings. Even worse, they tend to come in batches from the manufacturer. Un-stretched new strings. Old strings. By far the number one reason you will wind up chasing your tail.

Considering the relatively low cost of an average set of strings, it makes sense to eliminate the possibility that the strings themselves may be part of the problem. Lastly, a poor setup. I must make this absolutely clear: Your results will be influenced by the condition of the nut, the amount of neck relief and overall string height. I refer to this combination as the Perfect Triangle of Action ; all the elements working well together in a state of balance. In my experience, an improperly cut nut will destroy any attempt at accurate intonation.

Bassists : Throughout this process you should be using a pick, even if you do not normally play with one. The way we pluck the string with our fingers works very well when we're playing, but it just is not accurate or consistent enough for this process. For all instruments : Tune the entire instrument several times.

As the tension on each string changes it may alter the way your neck is sitting and may detune your other strings. Stick with this step until every string is open tuned as close as possible to perfect. When you're tuned, move on to the next step. Adjust your action. If you have any desire to raise or lower your string action the distance between your strings and the fretboard you should do it now.

This means if the string is buzzing raise it so that it does not! When the string is vibrating or buzzing on the next higher pitch fret, the note pitch can quickly and temporarily switch making intonation tuning very difficult. The two pitches may briefly and temporarily blend making sometimes the note pitch a little sharp. The buzzing sometimes produce some harmonic pitches that can reduce the purity of the pitches of the higher pitch frets; the tenth fret note pitches can sound a little higher.

The smaller the magnitude and duration of the buzzing on adjacent frets the smaller the offsets d has to be. If you alter your action after you complete the intonation setting process, you may undo all of the work you are about to do. If you do alter your action on any string, repeat step 2. The better quality guitars can have their strings closer to the frets with less buzzing. The closer the string s to the frets, the less the string stretching and tension increase when pressed, the smaller the offsets d have to be, the significantly exponentially better the intonation tuning due to less string stretching, but string buzzing may perhaps sometimes reduce intonation tuning.

Place the strings as close as possible to the frets; if some buzzing on next higher fret can be heard increase the distance slightly. There may be some string buzzing permitted at frets higher than twelfth fret. The more expensive guitars can have their strings closer to the fretboard and so have better intonation tuning.

From these equations can tell that intonation tuning improves as string tension T reduces and distance y i between string and twelfth fret reduces with offsets d minimized. Need to keep y i small as possible for first string to achieve intonation tuning. If the distances y i between strings and frets are too large, intonation tuning will be impossible. Figure out how far off you are.

Fret the string at the 12h fret and pick it. The pick should be moderate, not too hard, not too soft. When fretting, pay special attention to fret only as hard as is necessary to prevent the string from buzzing. In normal playing it isn't generally an issue, but for this process you need maximum accuracy.

When you play that string at the 12th fret, observe your tuner. If you are sharp too high or flat too low your intonations are off and an adjustment will need to be made.

Fix it. Adjust the saddles. Depending on the type of saddles you have determines if you turn the adjustment screws for the each saddle clockwise or counterclockwise.

If the note on the 12th fret is flat, that would mean that the saddle for that string needs to be moved forward toward the headstock. Compare the twelfth fret note to the corresponding twelfth fret harmonic pitch with electronic tuner for meter. This is decent intonation tuning for notes between nut and twelfth fret range. Check it. After you make a saddle adjustment, you will need to repeat step 2. Make sure the entire instrument is still perfectly in tune. You should see that it is not in the same place anymore.

If the 12th fret note isn't perfectly in tune while the open note is perfectly in tune, you need to repeat step 4 until it is.

Tune the open string note and check the fifth fret note with a mechanical pitch pipe. If the fifth fret note is still a little sharp high , move the bridge bridge saddle back a third of a millimeter. Play some songs on one string and adjust the string length at the bridge accordingly if the intonation does not work well. If it is perfect you are done with that string. Tune the first fret notes by adjusting string tensions; and compare the second to twelfth fret notes of a string with the chromatic electronic tuner pitches.

Repeat this until the notes from nut to twelfth fret of a string closely matches the references pitches. Better intonation tuning of a string occurs when the twelfth fret, sixteenth, and nineteenth fret notes pitches equal their corresponding harmonic pitches.

Fine tune by playing "Mama's Pearl" J5 guitar lead on one string. Do the rest. Repeat the process as outlined here for each string on the instrument tuning frequently. Once you have the instrument completely set up, play a nice fat major barre chord.

Listen to all of those overtones you've been missing! Now, kick on your distortion and notice how your guitar is suddenly times more powerful. What can I do if my 12th fret note is still sharp when the saddle has been moved back away from the fret board as far as possible?

Take the saddle off. Remove the spring. Put the saddle back in the bridge without the spring. This should give you a bit more room to bring the saddle back and make the string less sharp. If you need more room, take the saddle out again and grind the back side of the saddle, making the saddle shorter.

Leave enough threads in the saddle for the screw. Yes No. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 9. Why are strings offset at the bridge? Wouldn't this mean that the 12th fret is NOT the middle of every string? Heavier gauge strings need to be slightly longer to match the intonation of the lighter gauge plain steel strings. The lower tension and larger mass of the wound strings travel slightly more when fretted.

This is why acoustic guitars are offset at the bridge like this. Not Helpful 2 Helpful 6. I have a brand new standard Tele, and a string is in tune open but sharp at the twelfth, then in tune at the twelfth and flat open.

What do I do? Adjust the saddle so that the string length is longer. If the twelfth fret is sharp, the string is short. Not Helpful 9 Helpful What if the intonation is correct, but when I tune the guitar to pitch it does not stay in tune? Not Helpful 3 Helpful 7. The strings are hitting the frets. The truss rod might need to be adjusted, or the bridge raised, or the nut may have been cut poorly.

Start with the truss rod and then raise the strings at the bridge if you can. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 2. Check out some other similar articles.

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