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Joined:
January 2007
Posts: 672
Location: New South Wales, Australia | I know everyone is still buzzing from the tour and I wish I could've been there but life goes on and guitar questions always seem to arrive when I'm least expecting them.
I'm looking at a guitar for a friend tomorrow. He's been playing six months so he's just past the beginner stage and he's been told the guitar is in good condition but the intonation is "a bit out"
I'm reasonably comfortable looking at the neck, frets, headstock etc but I'm not sure about intonation.
What should I be looking for and if there is a problem is it something that can usually be easily fixed? |
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Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 1900
| If the bridge has adjustable saddles then the individual string intonation can be tuned by harmonics. If not, then it will be a combination of fret leveling, raising or lowering the saddle, and straightening the neck. You might find a local guitar tech to do that. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | If the action isn't set right there can be all kinds of issues. I find that fret height throws me off because I tend to use too much pressure.
You'll just have to play it and look. For a "next step" guitar don't accept anything that doesn't play right for you (him). |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Sorry I'm late, but try this in future.
Get the beast perfectly in tune with an electronic tuner, then finger each string at the 12th fret, and using the tuner, it should still be in tune. |
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Joined:
April 2007
Posts: 225
Location: Stow, Ohio | To much neck relief can affect intonation.
High frets and high nut slots can cause tuning issues as well. for example,
if you have a guitar with high frets, you tend to push to hard to get to the fretboard.
also a nut with high nut slots will cause you to press the string farther down to contact the fret. |
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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 51
Location: Arizona | Originally posted by muzza:
Sorry I'm late, but try this in future.
Get the beast perfectly in tune with an electronic tuner, then finger each string at the 12th fret, and using the tuner, it should still be in tune. The harmonic at the twelfth fret should be in tune as well. |
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intonation