After setting up my SG I notice I cant ever seem to get the G or Low E strings perfect. At the action I like I cant get the saddles far enough back to get the fretted 12th to match the Harmonic. I decided to buy a Tone Pros bridge awhile back and after taking the whole thing apart realized I bought the wrong one and put it back stock and resetup. With slightly higher action I could get it spot on but the guitar lacked the feel I like. So after putting it back were I like it again the G and Low E are off. Pickups are at factory spec hieght. I set intonation with my pedal tuner(no strobe or fancy stuff)The low E flickers sharp then falls right in,But the G is definetly a couple cents sharp. Im loving the way it plays and sounds and really dont notice any out of tune chords or anything. And looking at guitars of yore with compensated wrap tail bridges is it that crucial??? Anyone else got a main axe that is slightly unperfectly intonated?
Yes........that was suggested to me once. But how do you do that??..........The low E is so close I could prolly leave it but that F#$king G is driving me crazy cause I know its off.
Just pull that screw out (carefully) and flip the saddle around and screw it back in, but if yours has the retainer wire (vintage style ) be careful.
Mine doesnt have the wire......I allways thought if I backed the screw all the way out Id break it and the saddle wouldnt hold afterward?? Or does the screw thread all the way through to the other side of the bridge to hold it?
I know it is a totally different type of bridge, but I had a similar problem with the Gibraltar bridge on my Ibanez. What I had to do was remove the return spring that normally keeps the saddle pushed forward. That gave me the extra 2mm I needed to intonate the low E.
How to remove the screw & saddle to reverse the saddle depends on which tunomatic you have. Nashvilles have bent wire retaining clips that you remove from underneath the bridge. Most ABR's lift right out -- move the saddle toward the middle of its adjustment range, then lift up the head of the screw (most ABR's have an external restraining wire that holds all 6 screws in place -- obviously remove that first if yours has one). A couple of good pics of your bridge would help us help you. -------------------------- Alternative to messing with the saddles -- are you willing to try different brands and gauges of strings? Lighter gauge strings don't need the saddles as far back as heavier strings. And even the same gauge from different brands can intonate a little differently. ------------------------ Sharp bends over the saddles stiffen the strings slightly near the saddles, requiring the saddles to be adjusted farther back. If you have the tailpiece set very low, try raising it a bit (or top wrapping it). It's a very slight difference, but it might get your low E perfect and get your G string closer to acceptable. ------------------------- Finally (but probably should have been first), what tuner are you using and how precise is it? The old Boss TU 2 was +/- 3 cents. Most 3 LED tuners (one green and 2 reds) aren't accurate enough for intonation so you might be chasing your tail.
I would avoid using harmonics. Check each string open, and then fretted at the 12th fret. My Parker is in perfect intonation, but I use a compensated G string on my classical guitar.
If you have good ears (still) I get near 100%, if not perfect accuracy using a tone generator. It runs in the background as I intonate the 12th fret to the open string. Intonating like you would normally but you clearly hear the constant oscillation.
Yea its the Nashville tune o matic. I watched a youtube video on the individual clips. Now Im wondering if I can undo them with the bridge on or not. I hate to take it off again as the action is perfect and I hate to disturb anything.
You should also check the nut slot to make sure the string is ending exactly at the front of the nut. If the slot is worn and the string ends further into the nut, the location of the frets in relation to the length of the string will be off.
I hemmed I hawwed.......I watched youtube. I asked bandmates.......I hemmed somemore........I google searched..........I hawwed...........I looked at it.........I put it back in the case I hawwed. Then I did this........ 2min later it was done LOL I shoulda listened a week ago.
