Is this a reliable way to set the intonation?

[uFu]

The hardest part for me is the finger english and using a neutral amount of pressure to strike the string as well as fret the 12th fret. Plus like Ed said, the note changes pitch slightly as it decays after being struck.

How DO you all deal with this when setting intonation?

I find it relatively easy, since I only set up guitars that are going to be played by me. I just fret the note as I would if I were playing.

If you were setting up someone else's guitar, I guess you'd have to have some idea of how hard that person tends to fret notes. I imagine the problem would be worse with larger frets, since that would allow more room to fret something out of tune.

It may be legend, but I read somewhere that if you picked up one of Hendrix' guitars that was "in tune" and ready to be played (by him) it would sound terrible. Apparently he adjusted the tuning to his liking through finger pressure.

Whether that's true or not, it raises an interesting question: Given big enough frets and a good enough ear, shouldn't it theoretically be possible to play a guitar in Just Intonation, by tuning slightly flat and using finger pressure to tune each note "correctly"?

 

[apl]

Whether that's true or not, it raises an interesting question: Given big enough frets and a good enough ear, shouldn't it theoretically be possible to play a guitar in Just Intonation, by tuning slightly flat and using finger pressure to tune each note "correctly"?

Or those fretless guys like our friend DavidK who plays a violin.