PlayJazzGuitar.com Forum

[JakeJew]

How do you go about fixing the intonation on an acoustic guitar with no screws or anything in the bridge?
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[Gorecki]

[JakeJew]

geeez. One of my students got a fender acoustic about a year ago, it played pretty well and still plays decently but the intonation on the high string is atrocious! Should I just tell him to give up hope? And how could this happen on such a new guitar? He's a beginner, so he hasn't been doing stuff higher on the neck until recently, maybe I just never noticed...
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"Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconciousness - I wouldn't know. But I am sure that it is the antithesis of self-consciousness." - Aaron Copland

[Gorecki]

My guess is nobody probably noticed.

There's a plastic piece that acts as the bridge that sits in a slot on the bridge. Make sure that piece isn't chewed up near the E string, could be as simple as replacing that little piece.

Also if string gauging was changed, will also throw off the intonation and going back to an original set gauging could help.

I had to spend over $1,000 to get an acoustic I liked that seemed to be in tune up the neck.
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Do you know where all of your F'n B flats are?

[Hugh]

He could try replacing the saddle. While he's at it get a bone saddle, it improves the tone to quite a degree.
If he is handy with repairs, He can file the new saddle on the string contact side to suit the intonation. It does'nt give much adjustment but it might just be enough. And its not costly if he makes a mess of it, its only £4.00 in this country for the blank saddle. I did it with my classical and it improved things far greater than my expectations. If it does'nt work, just put the old one back in.
Hope this helps

[randyc]

Hugh is right, in my opinion. There are no easy fixes for intonation on fixed-saddle instruments , hand-filing is the traditional solution ...

Cheers,
randyc


P.S. I believe that the Buzz Feiten method requires an adjustable bridge. The remainder of the technique includes installing a special nut (which is claimed to help intonation in partially open string chords) and the use of a specially calibrated tuner that equally distributes error throughout the scale.

It's not a bad idea - lots of tiny, undiscernible errors instead of larger, easily detectable ones. I can see it working real well for a guy like Keb Mo, whose guitar gopher rushes onstage after every song with a newly-tuned instrument.

[jazzerchick]

Somebody told me about a tuning method that works pretty good for me.
Maybe you could give it a try. If you have a good tuner, try this :
1st string: straight up in tune
2nd: 1 beat sharp
3rd: 2 beats sharp
4th: 1 beat sharp
5 th: 1 beat sharp
6 th: straight up
I still check the octave between 4th and 2nd string, but this method brings
you pretty close.

[JakeJew]

[mr. beaumont]

looks like "tempering"-- tuning something a little "out" so things will sound better up the neck. a lot of classical guitarists know the limitations of their instruments and will adjust tuning depending on the key of the piece and the notes they'll need to hear up the neck...
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[jazzerchick]

Thanks, Mr. Beaumont, that's right. The 1st string tuned right to where the
tuner says it's in tune. The 2nd string just a little sharp, (according to your
tuner), 3rd a little sharper than the second, 4th back to the same sharpness
( is that a word?) as the 2nd, etc.
Then check the octave - try 4th string/5th fr (G) & 2nd string/8th fr (G) to
see if it's in tune. That's where my classical has trouble. Yours might be in a different place. Just check different octaves or maybe open D chord till it
sounds in tune with itself. Does that make any sense? You have to temper it
like I guess they do when they tune a piano. If you still have trouble, you
probably need some sort of other adjustment.