Intonation (I think) problem with my g string.

M

michael_lifshit

New member
Alright, so my g string has a lot of nasty overtones and weirdness. I guess that means the intonation is off. I can't get it to sound right, I can't get it quite in tune, ever, its very frustrating. Its not buzzing on a fret, I don't believe, as I have checked. I think its an intonation issue, but I barely even know what that means.

I took it into a shop and the guy did a really quick inspection and stuff of my guitar generally, but it still has that issue on the g string. So I want to fix it myself. I guess on the bridge there are springs for each string, which I have heard are for fixing intonation. But I don't want to touch it and make it worse.

Suggestions?
 
michael_lifshit said:
Alright, so my g string has a lot of nasty overtones and weirdness. I guess that means the intonation is off. I can't get it to sound right, I can't get it quite in tune, ever, its very frustrating. Its not buzzing on a fret, I don't believe, as I have checked. I think its an intonation issue, but I barely even know what that means.
Click to expand...

Electric or acoustic? If electric, the pickup(s) may be too close to the strings. If you play a skinny string alone and it sounds "warbly", especially as you go up the fretboard, that's a symptom of too-close pickups; the magnetic field from a pickup is pulling on the string and throwing it out of kilter. An unwound G string is especially susceptible to this effect.
 
Ok, yes it is electric. And the guitar tech didnt touch the pickups, so that is quite possible, as he didnt do anythign that fixed it, which I thought was strange.

Um, the only issue I see is that the b and e strings work fine, and its really ONLY the g that doesn't work. Also, how would I go about lowering the pickups?

Could I check to see if its the pickups by putting a piece of paper over the pickups and unplugging the guitar and seeing if it still has issues?
 
michael_lifshit said:
Ok, yes it is electric. And the guitar tech didnt touch the pickups, so that is quite possible, as he didnt do anythign that fixed it, which I thought was strange.

Um, the only issue I see is that the b and e strings work fine, and its really ONLY the g that doesn't work. Also, how would I go about lowering the pickups?

Could I check to see if its the pickups by putting a piece of paper over the pickups and unplugging the guitar and seeing if it still has issues?
Click to expand...

As I said, unwound G strings can be especially vulnerable. Paper won't have any effect, and neither will unplugging the guitar; if this is your problem, it's the permanent magnet in the pickup that is the culprit, and lowering the pickup is the only thing that will tell you if that's what's going on. Usually, there are screws centered on the top and bottom of a pickup that raise and lower it; it's typically about a 10 second adjustment.

Does the string sound weird when you play it alone? That's usually a good indicator that it's this and not intonation. I am assuming that it does this with new strings; old strings will do this when they get dirty or worn.
 
I have had a groove worn in the saddle that made plain strings sound funny. You can pull it from it's normal resting place and move it over a little to test.

Also, if the nut slot is too wide, or lower at the front than on the tuner side, it will act weird, too. You can sort of fix this with a little folded piece of paper, but it will ultimately require a new nut to fix it.

Lastly, I'd check to make sure there is no hardware buzzing. I thought something had broken loose on my guitar, but it turned out it was the washer I use for a straplock rattling on the button. Check pickup/pickguard screws or anything else that can rattle.
 
I used to hate my g-string with a passion. I started using a wound third and have been happy ever since.
 
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