guitar intonation problems!

[Danny00135]

So basically, i'm having some issues with my guitar on the B and the E string, the B I can live with but the E is a semitone out :/

I'm using a tunomatic bridge and have the adjuster screwed in (shortest seting) and it's still coming out flat

Does anyone know anthing I can do? It's a beautiful guitar to play and sounds great but the intonation just ruins it :/

The picture shows how I have my bridge set up

[JD™]

Checked the neck is straight? Shouldn't need to lock it out on the bridge and still come out flat.

[Danny00135]

Yeah the neck is straight :/

[JD™]

Well, either it isn't, or the action is uneven, or the frets are buggered. I think.

[ooo]

has it ever been okay ? have you tried changing the strings ?

[Danny00135]

When I got it all them years ago I didn't know much about them so I never noticed :/
I'll put a new set of strings on and see if it sorts it. I doubt it will, but that tends to work on my acoustic...

[psiron]

First job, take off the strings and lay a straight edge across the frets. sometimes guitar necks can warp and this should show that its straight or not, check along its length and width. if warped you would be best off taking it to a good guitar technician/ luthier. Check if the semitone is sharp or flat so you will need a good guitar tuner. check at the 12 fret if it is still a semitone out both by freting and through harmonics. at this point you will need to look to the adjusting screws on the bridge (sometimes they are in pairs), one will raise the action of the string the other will increase/decrease tension in the string, it can be quite difficult to set this up properly, but i don't think you will make it worse than it is all ready, but you must do this with new strings .

if its a guitar that gets propped up against the wall and doesn't get much use the neck will move, also modern houses with central heating can cause problems with swelling and shrinking of the wood. changes of temperature can alter the tuning, try taking a tuned guitar into another room and you may have to re-tune. A new set of strings and a setup will be money well spent if it has sentimental value, if not its firewood so get yourself a new axe and shred.

[weirdoku]

Old strings can definitely affect your intonation, so can many other things like string gauge, action and bowed neck as some mentioned.

Your problem usually affects lower end guitars more, but if it's not a low end guitar then there's definitely a problem with the guitar.

But try a set of new strings first then set your action first then intonation. Remember if you are going for a different gauge string you will need to adjust the now of the neck again.

[Danny00135]

Check if the semitone is sharp or flat so you will need a good guitar tuner. check at the 12 fret if it is still a semitone out both by freting and through harmonics

I have to identify things like "is the 8th chord of a piece is a V diminished 7th of the sub-dominant of the relative minor" just by listening to an excerpt on a day to day basis.. I can tell if it's sharp or flat

And it's a semitone out at the 12th fret using the harmonic..

Thankyou for the advice, I'll get going on that appreciate the help

Old strings can definitely affect your intonation, so can many other things like string gauge, action and bowed neck as some mentioned.

Your problem usually affects lower end guitars more, but if it's not a low end guitar then there's definitely a problem with the guitar.

But try a set of new strings first then set your action first then intonation. Remember if you are going for a different gauge string you will need to adjust the now of the neck again.

Cheers for the advice, RRP is around £450 for it, so I'm not that surprised... But still it is a shame :/

[Trials-Mikey]

yeah strings first then check out fret board i have personally never had problems with my neck or frets and it has been snapped haha

[Danny00135]

I might aswell check out the neck whilst the stings are off though... Instead of re-stringing it twice..

[weirdoku]

£450 should get your a fairly decent guitar. Although my £480 Ibanez has some stupid quality issues, such as the string slots in the nut being cut waaaay too deep and all at uneven depths and the machine heads had some dead spots but I've changed those now.

Then again my other £250 Ibanez is pretty much spot on in terms of finish and quality, I've only changed the pickups and pots, everything else is fine! Bit hit and miss I guess with these mass manufactured guitars.

I've never managed to get perfect intonation though, some strings are always that tiny bit too sharp or flat according to the tuner but it's not very noticeable by ear.

What guitar is it by the way?

[Danny00135]

A tanglewood tsb59

Es33 style guitar, always loved them but can't afford the Gibson price tag.

This way outshines the epiphone in terms of performance and playability though, I feel it really suites me.

[weirdoku]

I would love to get me a semi acoustic, always wanted one.

Also, just had a look at Tanglewoods website for your guitar, their RRP price is £359. You didn't pay near £450 for it did you?

Edited May 3, 2013 by weirdoku

[Danny00135]

I would love to get me a semi acoustic, always wanted one.

Also, just had a look at Tanglewoods website for your guitar, their RRP price is £359. You didn't pay near £450 for it did you?

Nah it was reduced down to like £250 or something since they were struggling to sell it because It was the natural colour and everyone wanted the sunburst or red one..

(nothing wrong with the guitar just they struggled to sell and wanted rid since they were being taken over and were having a completely new stock of guitars in)

But it was around the £450 mark that they were originally selling it for.. But I'm cheap so I went straight for the £250 one (after of course asking whats wrong with it )

[UK_SPAWN]

Sometimes the bridge is just wrong, there's a guy on youtube that bangs on about it for about.. all your life, but basically, if you have never had it rite, its probably because the bridge is out, (by a mm or less.) you can file but I don't remember the details so check out the annoying guy on youtube..

Hope this helps a bit.

once I just "reset" the adjuster to a position where I knew it would be way out, then retuned the string and tried again, and it was much better, no idea why. just simply "starting again"

I play a little, just now and again.