What the heck is this feller on about??



Holy Contiptious hog wrangling, otherwise known as Intonation and other ,related, matters.

There are many myths related to, and misdescriptions of, the process of Intonation.

So what IS this I word?

Simply adjusting the bridge's saddle back or forward so that any fretted note will sound at correct pitch -that is "all" there is too it.

All fretted instruments have compromise built into them by design,a feature of this is that you have to set the distance of each string's bridge saddle (from the nut) individually.

The intonation must be set properly or notes will not sound correctly,and, on cheaper guitars with an incorrectly set nut height (too high in general) EVEN WITH the inonation set correctly as below, certain chords will sound out of tune due to the player having to press the strings down too far from the their open position to the fretboard.



The main CORRECT way to do it is to tune the guitar to (standard) pitch,sound a HARMONIC over the 12th fret, tune the harmonic to correct pitch,then [and only then] fret the 12th fret note. You want to adjust the bridge so that the fretted 12th fret note and the harmonic 12th are exactly in tune.



If the note is FLAT when fretted move the saddle FORWARD toward the nut - in small increments of about 1mm/1/32nd at a time- continually checking,of course, to see when the two notes match exactly.

Conversly if the FRETTED note is SHARP move the saddle back toward the bottom end of the guitar,toward the strap pin -again in very small increments checking it all the time.

 Very fiddly on ocasion,but, not difficult. If you encounter great resistance or stiffness when trying to move the saddle -slacken the string THEN move the saddle,then retune and start the process off all over again.

DO NOT rush this process as saddles and screws can be butchered by it. Your mind must be "Present" and not watching television or otherwise distracted while you do this. It may be wise to lubricate any saddle screws with a TINY amount of WD40 before you start adjusting.

NOTE: Change your strings/string gauge and set neck relief, pickup and action height BEFORE setting the intonation as old strings,String gauge changes,and all of the above can affect the intonation for the worst.