Can't intonate my guitar

L

LeadPaint

New member
Changed strings on my Strat today and figured I should check its intonation. I have the guitar tuned 2.5 tones down, to B. I use the 6 bottom strings of a 7-string set.

The saddles of the two lowest strings are all the way inwards. The lowest string's length should still be increased to get proper intonation, but it can't go any further.

Do I have any options for fixing this issue? I suppose the only solution is changing the bridge to a one that has a wider range for its saddles.


EDIT: if I play a two note power chord with distortion now, on the two lowest strings in the 12th position, there is some beating going on.
 
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LeadPaint said:
The saddles of the two lowest strings are all the way inwards. The lowest string's length should still be increased to get proper intonation, but it can't go any further.
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Do you mean you have the saddles all the way OUTWARD (toward the strap button)?

LeadPaint said:
Do I have any options for fixing this issue? I suppose the only solution is changing the bridge to a one that has a wider range for its saddles.

EDIT: if I play a two note power chord with distortion now, on the two lowest strings in the 12th position, there is some beating going on.
Click to expand...

Do you mean that you are getting a beat pattern from the strings not being in tune with each other?
 
mjbphotos said:
Do you mean you have the saddles all the way OUTWARD (toward the strap button)?



Do you mean that you are getting a beat pattern from the strings not being in tune with each other?
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Yes to both. The two lowest strings are now not in tune on higher positions. I guess before I intonated my guitar, they were equally not-good-intonated.

dervish riff said:
Check your pup height. Stratitis (magnetic pull on strings) will be more pronounced with bigger strings.
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Is this in case of single coils? The guitar has humbuckers. I have the big strings for a year and a half now without any problems, until I decided to adjust the intonation today and found out the lowest string is unintonatable. What a bummer.
 
It's nothing to do with the pickups. I have exactly the same issue you are dealing with. You could try to replace the saddles with shorter versions, or try to grind yours down, but it's going to be a compromise either way.

I have no idea how an actual 7 string accomplishes this, but the fact is that the standard strat scale is just too short for notes this low.

Edit - it might help, though, if the height at the nut is correct. Did you replace the nut or file it down to the proper string height when you put on the bigger strings? Me, I just used the strings themselves to ream it out, and I didn't really try too hard. :/
 
Intonating a guitar is very complex. Everything from truss rod adjustments, to saddle adjustments, to string gauge, to nut adjustments come into play. The further you tune down the more difficult it can be to intonate your guitar. I generally recommend taking guitars to guitar shops to have the intonation set as I would not recommend adjusting the truss rod on your own.
 
Intonate & intonating aren't verbs. One sets the intonation or one is setting the intonation.
Sorry to be a grammar dag but this is up there with recreate as the verb for recreation the noun. Whilst the verb recreate does have a longish history it causes confusion with re create and it sounds as bad as the new vogue for using predate to replace the verb prey as in the owl is predating the mouse instead of the owl preys on the mouse or is preying on the mouse.
There's a reason we call it a "set up" rather than an intonate.
I know it's a second language and I ought to leave it alone BUT...
Oh, & I know my logic isn't flash in that I bag one confusing replacement whilst promoting a confusing original but that's English for ya!
 
yeah,
it's history is about the same as recreate and from a similar origin - 19th C USA.
It's still "wrong" to the ear and whilst it may have usage in trade specific aplications - like the total awful "thicknesser" (& that for a machine that invariably thins things) - it generally fits into the noun as verb party which was big in the 19thC and became even bigger in the late 80's when computer technology began to impose it's lazy grammar and thought bubble language onto the world - how "landscape" & "portrait" became the "logical" replacement for vertical & horizontal I have no idea except it meant something to someone who had a finger on the button at the time and who had no knowledge of portrairure & landscape art otehr than a couple of conventions that were, even then, not applied.
Back to the topic at hand - the guitar wasn't made for it.
You'll have to mod it to suit.
English is a constantly changing language but there are some limits
 
ashcat_lt said:
It's nothing to do with the pickups. I have exactly the same issue you are dealing with. You could try to replace the saddles with shorter versions, or try to grind yours down, but it's going to be a compromise either way.

I have no idea how an actual 7 string accomplishes this, but the fact is that the standard strat scale is just too short for notes this low.

Edit - it might help, though, if the height at the nut is correct. Did you replace the nut or file it down to the proper string height when you put on the bigger strings? Me, I just used the strings themselves to ream it out, and I didn't really try too hard. :/
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The height at the nut seems correct. When I bought the guitar I let the shop replace the pick guard, place the heavy strings and file down the nut.

HeavyNoise said:
Intonating a guitar is very complex. Everything from truss rod adjustments, to saddle adjustments, to string gauge, to nut adjustments come into play. The further you tune down the more difficult it can be to intonate your guitar. I generally recommend taking guitars to guitar shops to have the intonation set as I would not recommend adjusting the truss rod on your own.
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I guess I'll take the guitar back to the shop and ask over there what they can do about getting the intonation correct. I hope they know a solution.


And thanks for correcting me rayc. It explains why my spelling checker doesn't know "intonating" :)
 
My guitar teacher had a good suggestion. Perhaps if I remove the spring on the screw the saddle can move a bit further, hopefully enough to get the intonation right. I'll give this a try soon.
 
LeadPaint said:
My guitar teacher had a good suggestion. Perhaps if I remove the spring on the screw the saddle can move a bit further, hopefully enough to get the intonation right. I'll give this a try soon.
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Oh, I did that. Still can't go quite far enough. At a certain point the string has to bend backwards coming out of the hole in the trem block because the slot in the saddle is too far back, and it will be very difficult to string.

Here's hoping you have better luck than I!

OTOH - rondomusic.com has a relatively cheap offset-style baritone (Douglas Corvis 627). I promised myself I wouldn't buy any gear this year, but come January...
 
ashcat_lt said:
Oh, I did that. Still can't go quite far enough. At a certain point the string has to bend backwards coming out of the hole in the trem block because the slot in the saddle is too far back, and it will be very difficult to string.

Here's hoping you have better luck than I!

OTOH - rondomusic.com has a relatively cheap offset-style baritone (Douglas Corvis 627). I promised myself I wouldn't buy any gear this year, but come January...
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Those are ridiculously cheap :eek:
 
LeadPaint said:
Those are ridiculously cheap :eek:
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...and supposedly decent, from the random reviews I've read. At least, I've heard good things in general re: their offerings. We worry a little bit about a neck that was possibly not seasoned for very long before being CNC'd in a tropical climate and then shipped halfway around the world, but as long as it lasts a few years before getting all twisty, I think you'll have gotten your money's worth.
 
I removed the spring and now I'm a bit closer to good intonation. Next problem, the bolt going through the saddle is a bit too long. I need it to be just 3mm shorter...
 
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Instead of making the bolt shorter, I placed some rings on it and the saddle is now all the way outward and it still needs to go a bit further back!! I guess I'll have to make a trip to my guitar shop and ask them what can be don. I hope it's possible to install a smaller saddle...
 
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