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Topic starter
27/12/2009 3:37 am
So for setting up the intonation. I adjust the individual saddles until the harmonics are right over the 12th fret correct?
27/12/2009 4:12 am
if you mean intonation, the typical method is to set saddle intonation adjustment for each string so the 12th fret (octave) harmonic matches the note fretted at the 12th. but that method was created before precise (and accurate) electronic tuners became available at reasonable prices. with an electronic tuner, you should adjust intonation there is no measured error (except the octave) between notes fretted at the 3rd or 4th fret and 12 frets higher (15th or 16th, respectively).
-=tension & release=-
Topic starter
27/12/2009 5:27 am
Cool, I just finished and everything is looking good. Now i can begin on I Shot the Sheriff :)
27/12/2009 2:18 pm
indeed. congrats on your tele....now I have to figure out how to set it up...
Well, then, that's another story. :D All good... (learning ther ropes on a new configuration, or setting up a guitar) and it's positive - it's really something we should look forward to with an open mind and inquisitiveness, as a stimulating task, plus by all means, to enjoy. Sorry for the "Psychology" but I'm on Yahoo Answers too with a lot of people with problems during this seasonal interlude, or always.
If only everyone had a Strat, then there would be something positive to do, constructive and creative. :lol:
Anywho, after taking my brand new Highway One Tele all apart and putting it back together in 3 hours, I am disappointed that I can't get it to play or sing just like the Strat which is beside it for A/B purposes. I haven't given up, it's a work in progress, and I bought it as a piece of clay to mold it into something nice.
It wasn't cheap, it wasn't junk, it wasn't discounted or bargain-bin, it was the best thin-skin Nitro Ash Tele in the store IMO, and I compared it to their Custom Shop Team-built creations costing 2.5 - 3 times as much, which ticked off the store owner (but that's his problem and I ain't going back :roll: )... but all right, sorry this is your thread and I won't go into details.
On the plus side, the Tele is okay, and is a perfect platform for mods (Don Mare's "Nancy" 1953/1956 dual personality kit with coil tap, new capacitor/tone filter and neck-tone bypass) ... it is light, beautiful, perfectly understated or simple, and it DID sing on it's own, until the Strat joined in and blew it into the weeds. :shock:
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
27/12/2009 2:28 pm
Cool, I just finished and everything is looking good. Now i can begin on I Shot the Sheriff :)
That's great! I was just about to edit anyways and say good luck and enjoy! You're already there! Congrats. :wink:
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Topic starter
27/12/2009 3:22 pm
Yeh I know what you mean about having a positive outlook on it. I def like to tinker and this seems like the perfect platform for it lol... One more question though- my intonation seems to be pretty spot on but all of the saddles don't line up in a straight line. In fact, they seem to slope upwards from the thickest E string at a fairly constant rate. Is this ok?
27/12/2009 4:54 pm
they do not usually end up in a "straight line," but two "slanted" sections. if you are using an unwound G string, then the typical is two sections of three, E-A-D, where E string is longest (most compensation, saddle furthest from neck) and D is shortest (least compensation, a bit closer to neck). The pattern then repeats for G-B-e, where G is longest (further from neck -- usually about the same as the E), and e is the shortest (about the same position as the D):
something like this
^
|
toward neck
D e
A B
E G
tail
if you use a wound G, the pattern is a 4 and 2: E-A-D-G and B-e, as a wound G has a smaller gauge, flexible core and requires less compensation for "stiffness":
^
|
toward neck
G e
D B
A
E
tail
caveats: not every guitar is like this. about 2/3 of mine seem to work this way, but there are exceptions -- depends upon your method for setting up intonation: 12th-harmonic/12th-fret method is subject to nut placement and setup errors (reason I recommend the electronic tuner method on other fret postitions), wear on strings (always use new strings to set intonation) magnetic pull of pups on strings (should not have pups too close to strings, esp well known Strat issue), bridge design, brands and actual gauges of strings, guitar's natural overtones. the first three are correctable; the last three are figure normally into the compensation.
-=tension & release=-
Topic starter
27/12/2009 5:15 pm
Ok so it seems like I did it right, there are no inconistencies between corresponding frets. Now I'm gonna mess around with the string height...btW Thanks a lot. You and blue jay
27/12/2009 5:26 pm
Good job gnease; I liked that too. 8)
I can always find a pic, and agree. :lol:
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
27/12/2009 7:44 pm
Good job gnease; I liked that too. 8)
I can always find a pic, and agree. :lol:
... and I knew you'd post one, so I didn't. :wink:
-=tension & release=-
Topic starter
28/12/2009 12:00 am
So it seems like no matter how I adjust it the first fretted note is sharp as if that portion of the string should actually be one fret closer to the bridge. Any suggestions?
28/12/2009 12:37 am
Sounds like the nut's too high. That means the string has to be stretched more to push it down to the fret.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
28/12/2009 1:52 am
+1 a very common problem on guitars in all price ranges. unless you have nut slot files and know what you are doing -- or follow directions really well, take it to a tech or luthier and get the nut set up. it will be a quick job (30 minutes or less) and worth the price in improved playability and tuning.
-=tension & release=-
28/12/2009 1:55 am
I was havin' trouble with my Epi because a wire from a pot was touching the WOOD body.
28/12/2009 2:32 am
I was havin' trouble with my Epi because a wire from a pot was touching the WOOD body.
That's a good point, since Epi in their promo ads are frequently talking about shielding cavities (with paint) so a live wire would either kill the beast completely, or cut in & out, while a ground wire would interfere with your own body, and its touch.
About the Strat intonation, the guys are right on, but it is just a shame to have to cut into a nut slot so soon AGAIN??? - yeah, it's another NEW guitar, but like they say, it happens.
Now, our colleagues here know that fat strings are considered to be shorter on the guitar, from their take off point to the end of vibration, at the nut - but that would be considering open strings to begin with. I kind of think that fretting a note should take the nut out of the equation, except yes, it stretches the string as Ricochet indicated, and that can be on both sides of your finger. So, fatter strings (big & wound) are always perceived by the guitar as being short, and short strings are always sharp. That's one quirk that I thought gnease was so cool to identify, when he showed a different and correct pattern for intonating rare wound vintage G strings. The guitar instinctively 'knows' that the wound G is actually not fatter, shorter and sharper. They're strange, with those attributes that gnease described.
Anyhow, I also wonder if the tail end of your bridge is too high, which may shorten string length most of the time, and the 6th E won't let you get away with that on a Strat. As you've seen, you are probably pulling the saddle back all the way and it remains sharp. Oh dear - some intonators are so desperate over this that they remove the spring there, which isn't so good, or they grind the saddle shorter. That shouldn't be done either. Perhaps your saddle is too high on the little hex screws. That will remain high as you fret a note, and isn't cancelled out, like the nut.
But following up with what the guys said, you can still opt to file your nut slot if required, it is quite possibly a overlying issue, and you could go to 9's for strings, or 9 - 42 lights, as if your guitar didn't come with them new - they're Fender's main choice. 'Cuz, try putting 10's on some time, and welcome to another nightmare and a set of new issues, but it doesn't have to be as bad as Ozzy's reality show, if you stick with your instincts and maybe get some advice here. :D
Just trying to help with illustration of the typical issue on the E string. Yours is probably like this. This one is drawn back, but functional. And I'll come back with American Standard too, in case?
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.