Intonation Help!!!!


Kakarot
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Joined: 02/08/04
Posts: 30
Kakarot
Registered User
Joined: 02/08/04
Posts: 30
06/25/2005 1:52 pm
I've read loads of things saying you gotta move the sadle to adjust intonation but none say how, there's so many screws I don't know which to mess with. As well as that, I'm not entirely sure what the bridge and sadle are because there's no pictures. I have a Fender Stratocaster with a Floyd Rose thing. Can someone explain how I fix the intonation, if you have diagrams that would be useful. Infact if anyone has a diagram of all the different parts on the guitar and what they're called/do that would be useful.

Thanks
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# 1
Lordathestrings
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Lordathestrings
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06/25/2005 4:35 pm
[font=trebuchet ms]Here is a brief overview from our own Dr. Simon.

The saddles are the pieces that the strings rest on. There's a small screw in a slot along either side of each saddle. This is where the intonation adjustment is done. When the screws have been loosened, the saddle can move towards the neck to sharpen the pitch, or away from the neck to flatten it. You need to adjust the saddle position so that the harmonic at the 12th fret matches the fretted note.

Since a FR trem is very sensitive to changes in string tension, you will need to keep re-tuning the strings and adjusting the spring tension in the cavity in the back of your guitar to keep the bridge in the same position.[/font]
Lordathestrings
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# 2
Kakarot
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Joined: 02/08/04
Posts: 30
Kakarot
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Posts: 30
06/25/2005 7:14 pm
I've unscrewed one of the screws and the saddle shot forward and I don't seem to be able to move it unless I take the string off. Also, it doesn't seem to have changed the intonation at all. Could there be something else wrong with it?
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# 3
Grambo
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Grambo
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06/25/2005 7:46 pm
I'm not familiar with the floyd rose, but intonation is the adjustment of string lengths.wheras Action is the adjustment of string height.
An electronic tuner will make Adjustment much easier.
When setting up the low E for instance, the saddle must be positioned such that open E and twelth fret ( a higher E ) both bring the needle of the tuner to the middle.
Generally the low E string is the longest and the Top E string is shortest, you will probably have to slacken off the string tension when moving the saddles
if you always take the lazy route
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# 4
Brian H.
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Joined: 06/15/05
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Brian H.
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06/27/2005 1:53 am
My Floyd has a allen wrench screw in front of the saddle. You should loosen the string tension before loosening the screw. If your 12th fretted note is flat with respect to the open midway harmonic ( 12th fret harmonic ) then move the saddle toward the neck and retune again. I dont have a perfect ear so a tunner is most usefull. If you move the saddle and the intonation does'nt change you got big problems!
# 5
Dr_simon
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Dr_simon
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06/27/2005 2:03 am
The bridge plate on my DKMG has two different holes for the saddle one in front of the other. So if you need extra travel on your saddle it may be worth having a look and seeing if you have one or two saddle location points.
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# 6

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