Intonation issue

[mjbphotos]

Giving a new set up to my (admittedly cheap) Epiphone Dot Studio, all the strings/frets are true except the G string. I have thee adjustable bridge nut pushed as far out as it will go, but the played notes are still sharp - it's the only string that is a problem. The adjustment screws are facing the neck, would swapping the whole bridge around (so the adjustment screws are facing the tailpiece be better (or make a difference)? The bridge position is not adjustable as far as I can tell (up and down yes, back and forth no).
Any quick solution ideas?
As it is, if I tune the guitar with the G string open, when I play that string anywhere on the neck it rings noticeably sharp, and if I tune to the frets, the open G sounds flat.

 

[ranjam]

This happens a lot if your G is a really thin gauge. Teles are even worse, since you have to compromise for the G and the D string on the same saddle. But a tune-o-matic you can reverse the one G saddle. You might still have to beef up the gauge to get in tune even closer.

 

[mjbphotos]

Thanks, I do have a 016 on there, will see if I've got anything heavier lying around.

 

[Greg_L]

Like arcaxis mentioned, flip just the saddle if it's a tune-o-matic. I had to do this on an SG and it worked awesomely. The length of the G on a split headstock and the bad gauge-to-tension ratio of an unwound G make it a bitch on many guitars.

 

[Lt. Bob]

yep .... flip the saddle.

So you normally use .009s?

On a set of tens the G would be a .017 so that is pretty light but you should be able to get it by flipping the saddle.

 

[mjbphotos]

yeah, I normally use 9s, but I may have 10s on there - I forget what I put on last time! Either way, its either a 016 or a 017.

 

[mjbphotos]

Funny thing, I was worried about using this guitar at practice last night (so didn't), but the lead guitarist brought in a Jay Turser Strat that he had just put some new pickups on and it had the same problem (G string I think, too) and no one said anything. Whenever he hit that open G I could hear the flatness!

 

[mjbphotos]

Bought a set of D'Addario 'Jazz Light' strings with a 023 wound G string, much better. Could not figure out how to pull the bridge piece out - turning the position screw all the way either way did not do it, and it looks like the the saddle is symmetrical anyway, so probably would not have made a difference.

 

[mjbphotos]

Are the frets on the neck sort of high? If you finger the string lightly and don't bear down hard does it still go sharp?

No, it wasn't that, just that the saddle couldn't be backed out enough for the extra light strings.