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Tuning up the neck


OrientalTat

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I've noticed that my year-old AJ500M NA is sharp when played near or around the 12th fret. As it happens, I met a luthier on a recent 6,700-mile train trip and he suggested sanding (specialized by a knowledgeable repairman) of the saddle, I believe. He described the repair as a precise and specific type of sanding. Anyone know about this repair or adjustment? Seems like at a minimum a guitar neck should be true to its intended tuning. Am I naive? Is this simply one of the realities of owning a relatively inexpensive instrument?

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Intonating a guitar is a little more then just sanding the saddle, it mat require the saddle slot to be filled and re-routed and being percisely measured and the saddle may need to be compensated to get as close to being intonated up and down the neck ( similar to the Buzz Feinten way of compensating for sharps and flats on the fretboard )I think he was suggesting bridge work and not the saddle itself.ship

While it may seem complicated once you read this you should have a better idea as to what could be involved in setting your guitar up better.sho

http://www.doolinguitars.com/intonation/intonation1.html

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Intonating a guitar is a little more then just sanding the saddle, it mat require the saddle slot to be filled and re-routed and being percisely measured and the saddle may need to be compensated to get as close to being intonated up and down the neck ( similar to the Buzz Feinten way of compensating for sharps and flats on the fretboard )I think he was suggesting bridge work and not the saddle itself.ship

While it may seem complicated once you read this you should have a better idea as to what could be involved in setting your guitar up better.sho

http://www.doolinguitars.com/intonation/intonation1.html

 

Thanks for taking the time. Enjoyed the article you linked to. I see this is as complicated as I thought it might be and have no doubts this is a task for a trusted repair person. I still suspect that a better-crafted guitar might not have these problems. Live and learn, I guess . . .

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About the only guitar that won't have this issue would be a handbuilt and even then it could depending on the builder. It really isn't complicated you just have to appreciate the fact that some work is involved into making sure that its at its best and that a good tech or builder will be able to get it as close as the human ear can hear it.

Ship

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You do not say if some or all the strings are affected.

 

Some guitars' saddles are compensated. Under the low E through G strings, the saddle makes a pretty straight line, askew of perpendicular to the strings. Then at the b string the saddle;s break point takes a jump to the sharp side, then a straight line to the high e string. This is a compensated saddle. Some guitars have it, some don't. Value and quality do not matter.

 

If at the 12th fret (octave) the string is sharp, I suspect that all the way up and down the neck it is a bit sharp. At fret one it is barely a cent sharp, as you work your way up the next fret is an additional cent or so sharper. This sharpness accumulates until at the 12th it is noticeably sharp. Sanding the saddle to effectively move the break point could be enough to bring the 12th fret to a tolerable tone, and in the process, flatten the rest of the frets by just a bit. To illustrate, instead of the break point of the saddle looking somewhat like this /\, it needs to be sanded to look more like this /|.

 

Having said this, if you change strings, you could be right back were you were, and maybe to the flat side. String material, weight and manufacturer can affect intonation. It is possible that the guitar was designed and built with great care, but with a particular weight of string in mind, usually 'medium'. But out of the box, the manufacturer installed light or even >groan< ultra-light strings. Why? Especially if it's a model viewed as a 'starter' guitar, lighter strings are easier to fret for a newbie, and therefore more salable. Besides, what do newbies know about intonation? right? You may find that changing strings might abate this problem. if sanding the saddle would 'cure' the problem, it cannot be that far off. Be aware that sanding/ reshaping the saddle will lower the action a bit.

 

BTW, the advent of electronic tuners has made minor intonation issues more visible, but not necessarily more hear-able.

 

I would be willing to bet a shiny new pick that you would be hard pressed to check intonation of guitars from now until kingdom come and not find a single one with intonation spot on, electronic tuner perfect, from nut to saddle on all six strings at the same time.

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Before you let some hack chop away at your axe, try this......Since your guitar is fretting sharp as you go up the neck, check the sting height. High action can make you fret sharper as you go up the neck due to the higher action as you go towards the body takes a longer distance, and more tension on the string, before it frets ;) Also, check your neck relief and make sure it is within a reasonable spec. If all this checks out and you are still fretting sharp, then a compensated saddle will be in order. Only an extremely misaligned saddle would require filling and reslotting the bridge for a new saddle. Likely just high action is causing you to fret sharp.

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Before you let some hack chop away at your axe, try this......Since your guitar is fretting sharp as you go up the neck, check the sting height. High action can make you fret sharper as you go up the neck due to the higher action as you go towards the body takes a longer distance, and more tension on the string, before it frets ;) Also, check your neck relief and make sure it is within a reasonable spec. If all this checks out and you are still fretting sharp, then a compensated saddle will be in order. Only an extremely misaligned saddle would require filling and reslotting the bridge for a new saddle. Likely just high action is causing you to fret sharp.

 

Great. Thanks to all for the guidance. As I'm not that great a picker ( I'm sort of an advanced beginner ! ), I'll probably live with this awhile and experiment with strings. Thanks again to one and all. (tony)

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