swlabr Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 I guess I have had bad luck. I have a really picky ear and I purchased a 2010 335 and chased the G string intonation for a month, it just kept coming up sharp. Very noticable when playing open chords, not so bad doing lead or on distort setting, but playing clean is quite noticable. I had 3 set ups done, last one the guitar tech replaced nut and spen t30 mintutes trying to intonate the G string. We even turned the saddle around to get more adjustment. Another thing even replacing the nut,(strings were not binding) but the guitar would not stay in tune Note: The fit and finish, neck, frets etc were flawless. I really liked that guitars mojo and overall it had a good sound, but I couldn't live with a sharp G string. (B string was off too, but I could live with it.) I ended up taking it back and trading up to as PRS SC HB II. So I went to Sam Ash and GC and played three different 335s all had the G string sharp, like I said only really noticable on open chords like a D or an A. Anyone else experience this? Or maybe I just ran into a bad batch. I really like Gibson guitars and my two LPs have excellent intonation. I had the same problem with my 335 that I bought new in 2006.It would not stay in tune and the G string always sounded sharp. The nut slot was sanded several times and pencil lead was used as a lubricant too many times to count. As a result, I got fed up with it and was considering taking to the next guitar show to unload it. As a last resort I had a bone nut installed this week and the problem went away. It's like having a new guitar. The guitar tech told me that the Corian nut was the problem because it's softer than bone. Now my 335 doesn't ping when I tune it and stays in tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvgibson Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 I took my 335 to Charlie Chanders Guitar shop here in England. He shop offers the "Plec" service and it solved all my intonation problems in one go. Good Eh!!! Someone the US must have one??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max2343 Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 First its all in the nut. Try getting this one above and find someone or just do it yourself and set the string height as low as possible, You have to remember the G string has the lowest tension of all the strings and if its set too high finger pressure will make it goes sharpThe hgher its set the worst off you are. This comensated nut will get ya back in range and it will sound soo much better all up the neck. Another note Set ur Intoneation on the neck pickup and set it a little flat once you have the range Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max2343 Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 This is it right there. Nut slot depth almost always. Put a capo between the second and third fret. Should be a .005" gap and no more between the string and the top of the first fret. Thats the way to do it and .004 is Perfect if you run the same strings all the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakestyger Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 NOT lower (all) the strings. Lower THE slot that has THE string that is going sharp when fretted. This has nothing to do with the action. It has to do with the fact that the nut slots should be cut so that when strings are fretted in the first two or three frets the distance traveled is close enough so that one string doesn't stretch more that the others when fretted. You can set the height wherever you want it as long as the slot depths have the proper depth relationship to each other. You can usually see this problem where a nut slot depth is incorrect. Look at the nut slots in the pic below, where the strings come through them over the first fret. They should all be very close to the same height and more or less follow the fretboard radius. But due to the size of each string the low E is higher than the high E and the middle string heights are graduated along the radius. It's pretty obvious when one of slots is not deep enough. In the pic below - old Mr. G String is sticking up like a flag. Because it is higher (beyond the radius) than the rest of the other strings as they come out of the nut slots, when you fret that G string in first two or three frets, it is stretching farther than any of the other strings causing it to be have more tension than it should and it sounds sharp in comparision to the other strings. The pic below shows the typical problem with Gibson factory nuts - many times the G and/or B slots are cut too high. Agree totally. I have an ES-137 and the G and B strings are a problem going sharp in the first, second and third positions. It's the nut slots and they have to be right on. I can hear the G string pull sharp, for example as I fret the note with normal fretting hand pressure. String tension also influences how the note will go sharp. I found that raising the stopbar tailpiece, string tension is reduced so there is less tendency for the string to go sharp. But then this requires action adjustment followed by intonation again. I also learned that fine tuning the intonation really is a matter of moving the saddles ever so slightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Don't know if this is due to the string brand and type I use - Optima Chrome Regular Light .010" to .046" on vibrato equipped guitars, Medium .011" to .050" with a plain .018" G3 on hard tail instruments - but I never had any trouble with nuts on all my 2011 to 2013 made Gibsons. I din't play them for an extended period with the strings they came stock, but I can't remember everything wrong with them, too. It seems normal to me that I have to revert some bridges for proper intonation setting, in particular of E6, G3 and B2 on Tune-O-Matics, and that sometimes the results come as a surprise if e. g. the A5 turns out to be the shortest string on some guitars (in my case the SG Supra AN and the CS LP Std F TO). It's not the strings due to poor tolerances or so but the string/guitar interaction I think as the adjustments proved to be correct after string changes. My 1970s SG and L6S I bought used were set up so poorly that I wondered how the pre-owners could have played them. OK, their factory setup perhaps would have been fine for bottleneck use... I prefer relatively deep cut nuts but I do play with lots of dynamics and sometimes very hard string attacks, and so my string action setting is somewhat over the average one and typical factory settings. My favourite would be a zero fret on every guitar but there sadly are very few models out there featuring it, e. g. the Brian May Signature. The only very troubles I had in the recent past with nuts was on three of my four Fender FR Stratocasters. They were tilted towards the fretboard, and some open strings appeared to buzz, interestingly B2 and G3 in the first place. Same strings intonated too high when fretted. I dressed the uneven finish surface under the locking nuts with a rasp and surprisingly hadn't to change to a higher gauge shim respectively to add one. However, it was an odd job due to the finish getting sticky after breaking up the surface since the guitars were rather new. I had to clean the dulled rasp every few seconds... The Strat in Lake Placid Blue was one year older, and so it was much easier since the finish had dried out much more and already become more brittle. The Plustop FR Strat with ACB finish was fine from the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swlabr Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I have a 2006 ES335 and had the same problem until recently. I tried filing the nut, lube, and pencil lead and nothing worked. I was ready to take it to the next guitar show and unload it. As a last resort I took it to a really great guitar tech who installed a bone nut and set it up. Problem solved. IMHO, the Corian nuts that Gibson use don't cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citizenken Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I guess I'm lucky (so far...) with the factory setup. With the capo between the 2nd & 3rd fret, the .005 gauge was snug across all strings on the first fret. Great topic! I may still get a bone nut installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I bought my ES 335 in 2011 and i've never had a problem with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundjunkie Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Get a strat! My strat has a floating bridge and roller nut. Perfect intonation. That brass nut looks like a "gimick"...sorry. the Gibson ABR bridge and std. saddles work fine. Your saddle or nut is not filed correctly for the string gage you are using - period. And ALWAYS lube all contact points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Get a strat! My strat has a floating bridge and roller nut. Perfect intonation. That brass nut looks like a "gimick"...sorry. the Gibson ABR bridge and std. saddles work fine. Your saddle or nut is not filed correctly for the string gage you are using - period. And ALWAYS lube all contact points. Most likely it's his nut problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundjunkie Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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