1) Tightening the trem claw so the bridge sits flush on the body (I don't use the trem).
2) Took the stock tuners off, popped the back covers off and tightened and applied blue loctite to the bolt holding the gear in place (they were all loose and the stems were wobbly prior to that). One of them wasn't machined well and wouldn't tighten up flush so I cut a small shim washer out of a 2 liter coke bottle and used that to snug things up.
3) Deburred/lubed the grooves in the nut and string trees.
4) Changed out the factory strings.
The above got it to where it was now just a hair sharp on the fretted 12th, which for a beginner like me is acceptable for the time being and not very noticeable. I then started practicing and taking more GT lessons, but when I started on the open chord lessons, the intonation started bugging me again. Turns out even with the open and fretted 12th pretty close, everything in between is now very sharp. I can deal with just a little, but it's noticeable enough to make me cringe every time I play an open chord.
Originally Posted by: RazboAfter that, if it's really sharp at those low frets, your nut might need the slots lowered.
I now have a Tusq nut and replacement string trees en route to me, so that'll be my next step (thanks for the tip). My files are ready to start messing with the factory nut slot height before I install the Tusq nut to see if that's part of the problem.
I probably spent more time in the past week troubleshooting the intonation issues and making adjustments than I actually practiced. I was going to swap this guitar for another one at the store I got it from, but I'm finding this challenge just as intriguing as learning to play so I'm going to hang on to it for now. I'm looking forward to more suggestions/tips...
