Originally Posted by: hunter1801Well I tune all the open strings to pitch, then tune the 12th harmonic to pitch. When they match, I know it is half the length.[/QUOTE]
BUT, if the string is not intonated, the it's half of something that is not the final length the string string will be. So every intonation adjustment you make actually changes the pitch that 12th harmonic. So, your base note that you are trying to match keeps moving on you.
[QUOTE=hunter1801]
What if you run into a situation where you tune the open string and the 12th fret to the same pitch....but then your 12th harmonic is off (sharp/flat)?
IF you're 12th fret is exactly half, then this is theoretically impossible. However, it's almost never half even when you are done intonating. The only string most likely to be exactly half at the 12th fret is the treble E string. So, this is why you'll get a sharp or flat harmonic.
Look at your saddles. They are staggered, so it's impossible that the 12th fret is exactly half of all of them. (Unless you have one of those bizarre compensated fretboards you linked somewhere else!)
Thus, using a 12th fret harmonic is giving you a misleading tone. You'd have to measure nut to saddle, then find the middle (which could be a quarter inch or so off the 12th), then use that harmonic location.
All this makes the 12th fret harmonic irrelevant except as a ballpark check imo.
Thoughts?
...so ever since then, I always hang on to the buckle.
