It's already a compromise of many factors anyway, and there are numerous wonderful guitars that don't even have intonation adjustment.
It's nice to get the intonation set perfect, but sometimes it just won't happen on some guitars but you can get it close enough to work just fine. It's a compromise inherent to any fixed scale fretted instrument. The guitar is what's known as an even tempered instrument, meaning it plays close to in tune all over the neck but rarely perfectly in tune anywhere. Some guitars just won't intonate, it happens. Usually the high E string saddle can be set right at the scale length and all the others need to be set further back than that, but not always.Īn easier and more accurate way of determining the scale is to measure from the nut to the twelfth fret and then doubling that measurement.
But setting the intonation involves adding a little bit to that scale length to compensate for the strings stretching when fretted and going a little sharp when struck. Scale length is nut to bridge, that's correct.
#Intone guitar install
If you're going to be setting or adjusting your intonation, install a fresh set of strings first. One thing to bear in mind though, is that as strings wear out they'll become harder to intonate properly. If the action is how you like it and the relief is not too much and things still won't intonate, the bridge might be positioned wrong. The truss rod would only really be an issue if there was so much relief that it caused the action to be too high, which made the strings stretch out of tune excessively when fretted. So getting yourself a set of light top/heavy bottom strings can give you a bit heavier strings on the wounds (which might help your intonation) while still leaving you some easy playability and bends on the high strings. If your bridge is a Gibson style Tune-o-matic, often the saddles can be removed and reversed so they face the opposite direction which can give you some more intonation room since the saddles are usually ramped toward one side or the other.Īnd lastly, usually people run out of intonation room on the lower wound strings and not the higher strings. This might give you that last bit you need. If your bridge is a Fender type with individually adjustable saddles, oftentimes you can remove the spring behind the saddle to give it just a bit more adjustment room. If you can't get the travel out of your bridge saddles, heavier strings might do the trick.Ī couple things to bear in mind though. Heavier strings will generally not need to have the saddles as far back as lighter ones.
But there's significant trade offs in feel and tension. So heavier strings can help intonation, and in general they intonate better and play more in tune in general than lighter strings. They'll also go sharp less when struck with the same force. If your action is as low as it can go, then that's not really something you can help unless you get a fret job done.īut heavier strings will be under more tension than lighter strings at any given pitch on a given scale length, so they can be set lower to the board without buzzing. Since lower action means the strings will stretch from their resting position less when struck, typically lower action will mean you will need less intonation compensation (meaning the saddles won't have to be as far back). Intonation is describing the compensation that's needed to counteract the strings stretching from their resting position when fretted, as well as compensation for how they tend to go sharp when struck.
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