DIY intonating my Wilshire

[altair]

Hi gang,

 

I've been considering taking my Wilshire to a luthier for setup and intonation. Then I thought about trying it myself first, thinking I could always have it done by a luthier if I screw up. So I've watched a bunch of how-to video's on Youtube and got to work.

 

I've lowered the string action to just below the 2 mm mark at the 17th fret, which was the lowest I could get it without fret buzz. I decided not to touch the truss rod, since that had already been set by a luthier who also repaired the nut.

So then I intonated the strings (which I found quite easy to do with a good tuner) but one string, the G, gave me a bit of trouble. Eventually I had the bridge saddle all the way back, but the fretted 12th still sounds slightly sharp compared with the harmonic 12th. It's practically inaudible, but the tuner doesn't lie.

 

Anyone have any idea what else should be done to get that string intonated properly?

Should I get a fresh set of strings and do the entire intonation process again?

[peeper]

Well, for starters, tuners DO lie. Unless you are using a thousand dollar strobe tuner, it lies. In fact, I don't even use a tuner when setting a customers intonation cause the tuner lies so much it makes it a futile effort. I do however, have a great ear, much more accurate than a tuner, and can also tune by ear (classically trained musician). But using any quartz or digital tuner to set intonation is inaccurate. I really only use a tuner for on stage tuning in applications where I cannot hear the note I am tuning.

 

That said, get a wound g string, it'll fix it. Guitars are designed to utilize a wound G, modern trends of tiny strings create this problem.

[HarpBoy]

So then I intonated the strings (which I found quite easy to do with a good tuner) but one string' date=' the G, gave me a bit of trouble. Eventually I had the bridge saddle all the way back, but the fretted 12th still sounds slightly sharp compared with the harmonic 12th. It's practically inaudible, but the tuner doesn't lie.

 

Anyone have any idea what else should be done to get that string intonated properly?

Should I get a fresh set of strings and do the entire intonation process again?[/quote']

 

A common solution to this problem is to flip around the saddle for the string that you can't get quite right. That allows you to move the contact point further back. It's not a big deal and easy to do. And interestingly enough, it's most commonly done on the G string.

 

Cheers

[altair]

Musicron, Harpboy, thank you for the very helpful information!

Back to work I go...