randyscott Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I don't own an electric guitar right now, so I'm just asking out of technical curiosity. I've noticed that many electrics have an adjustable bridge w/ 6 little screws that appear to make minute changes to the individual lengths of the 6 strings. I've also noticed that some have it straight across & some at an angle. How do you tune the exact locations of those 6 little bridge blocks? Is this something that can only be done by a pro guitar builder? Why aren't all 6 strings the exact same length? Why are some bridges angled & some perpendicular to the fret board? Why don't the tuners on the head do everything you need? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ne14t? Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I don't own an electric guitar right now, so I'm just asking out of technical curiosity. I've noticed that many electrics have an adjustable bridge w/ 6 little screws that appear to make minute changes to the individual lengths of the 6 strings. I've also noticed that some have it straight across & some at an angle. How do you tune the exact locations of those 6 little bridge blocks? Is this something that can only be done by a pro guitar builder? Why aren't all 6 strings the exact same length? Why are some bridges angled & some perpendicular to the fret board? Why don't the tuners on the head do everything you need? Just curious. These arent used to tune the guitar, you would do that via the tuner keys. What your looking at I believe is for setting the intonation of each string which is to get rid of that annoying fret buzz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyscott Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Yes, I know they don't replace the tuning keys, which is why I asked "why aren't the tuners on the head all you need?" but how do they effect buzz? Do they adjust up & down? They look like they are going toward or away from the nut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ne14t? Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Yeah as the string sits on it, as you said it moved toward and away from the nut, when you move it closer to the nut you will raise the string up away from the fretboard and if you move it away from the nut it will move the string down closer to the fretboard. When you pluck a string on a guitar it vibrates, and it actually spins in a circular motion, if your string is too close to the fretboard while its moving in this circular pattern it will hit one of the metal frets on the fretboard and cause s buzzing noise as its disrupting the natural vibration of the string thus effecting the note. I have never had an intonation problem so I dont know all the details but from what I do know, the buzzing happens commonly at the 12th fret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Wunterslausche Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I am afraid this is all wrong. The bridge hight is adjustable at each end of the bridge using the thumb screws. The adjustable saddles are for intonation and have nothing to do with string height. The most common method to correctly adjust the intonation is that one compares the harmonic at the twelfth fret (lightly touch the string but not depressing it all the way to the finger board and pick it) with the fretted note at the same position. They should be the same. NOTE: It's is advisable to use an accurate tuner rather than your ear for this. If the harmonic is lower than the fretted not the string needs to be lengthened and vice versa. There are several reasons why the strings are at different lengths... 1) At the points where the string meets the nut and the saddles there is a tiny amount of the string which doesn't vibrate because it is so close to the saddle, or nut. 2) Each string has a varying resistance to vibrating, especially the wound ones. 3) The strings sit at different depths in the nut slots which has a tiny effect on overall length 4) The weight and gauge of the strings varies slightly along their length, especially once they are stretched. 5) The amount of string between nut and tuning peg and between the saddle and tail piece has an effect 6) The mass of each string effect the amount of momentum in the movement 7) The different gauges of strings require pushing down to the finger board by varying amount due to the various thickness. 8) Musical scales are not perfect, there are several compromises, in a professional recording environment musicians (or their guitar techs) will often re intonate their guitars so that they are spot on for what they are recording. Actually this list is endless You should not try to correct fret buzz with the intonation adjustment, you wont fix the problem and you'll end up with a guitar that is not in tune all the way up the finger board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojjett Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Thanks Farnsbarns, Saves me from having to write all that. It's true that on Strat bridges, you adjust both the intonation & the action via the individual saddles. Each saddle adjusts up/down back/forth. Different design from the Gibson Tuneomatic bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojjett Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Seeing that I accidentally posted twice & I don't know how to delete , I'll edit & write this additional comment. You can tune your E string for example perfectly with the tuning peg, via string tension, but if the strings length between the nut & bridge is incorrect you'll be off pitch by the time you get to the 12th fret. So obviously as you move the bridge saddle one way or the other, it also changes the strings pitch via the length in which the string vibrates. This gives the ability to synchronize between the pitch of the open string & the pitch of the string played at the octave fret. So the adjustable saddles are necessary. Sorry for the clumsy explanation. I do these adjustment myself. It's not all that difficult, but as Farnsbarns suggested, it's best to have a good tuner to get it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyscott Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 Thank you guys. Farnsbarns' answer should be added to the discussion thread on "Lessons, Playing Tips & Tunings" and made "sticky" to the top so it's easy to find. That seems like Basic info that any guitar player should learn. Now that I know, and I have an electronic tuning aid (my hearing is not so sharp anymore) I'll do the harmonics test on my old acoustic. It has a removable (floating?) bridge & the only way I know (knew) to get it back in the right place after replacing the strings is the slightly different color from it's being in the same place for 75 years. I assume that the guy who did the repair/restoration about 20 yr ago put it back in the right place but he didn't bother to tell me how. Have a beer & pretend I bought it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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