NGPD - Parts is parts....

The Rutters solution for intonation has got to be one of the best and simplest for compensated tele saddles. The should sell sets with vintage style bolts for guys with old Teles.
 
Andy Eagle said:
The Rutters solution for intonation has got to be one of the best and simplest for compensated tele saddles. The should sell sets with vintage style bolts for guys with old Teles.
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The intonated saddles work great with a regular nut.

The Earvana compensated nut tweaks the required intonation settings a little. Might need to get another D/G saddle for the B and E strings to sort it....
 
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Typical intonation settings for Earvana. Going to try just swapping the D/G and B/E saddles and see if that will "git 'er dun"....
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
12th fret fretted note playing in tune.

I swapped the G/D and B/E saddles on the Tele bridge and it was spot on except for the G string, so I filed that one a little until it was right on the money....
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Try comparing the third fret to the fifteenth. This largely tempers the neck because you're comparing only fretted notes. Try it and see how close the open strings end up. IME this method gets the majority of the neck playing in good tune. I feel it's best to make the fretted notes the main beneficiary of methods to improve a guitar's intonation.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Try comparing the third fret to the fifteenth. This largely tempers the neck because you're comparing only fretted notes. Try it and see how close the open strings end up. IME this method gets the majority of the neck playing in good tune. I feel it's best to make the fretted notes the main beneficiary of methods to improve a guitar's intonation.
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Interesting, will have to try this.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Try comparing the third fret to the fifteenth. This largely tempers the neck because you're comparing only fretted notes. Try it and see how close the open strings end up. IME this method gets the majority of the neck playing in good tune. I feel it's best to make the fretted notes the main beneficiary of methods to improve a guitar's intonation.
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I've been trying this for a few months and I'm liking it. I place a capo at the third fret with just enough tension to get a clear-sounding note. Don't know if using a capo is advised, but it seems to work for me.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Try comparing the third fret to the fifteenth. This largely tempers the neck because you're comparing only fretted notes. Try it and see how close the open strings end up. IME this method gets the majority of the neck playing in good tune. I feel it's best to make the fretted notes the main beneficiary of methods to improve a guitar's intonation.
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I do the 5th and 17th for the high E, then I go until I can get 4ths and 5ths pretty far up the neck.
 
State of Epicicity said:
I do the 5th and 17th for the high E, then I go until I can get 4ths and 5ths pretty far up the neck.
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I should be more clear, that I do this for the first string only, then I play 4ths and 5ths on the B and E and adjust until the B is intonated. Next I play 4ths and 5ths on the G and B and adjust until the G is intonated. Etc. You have to be careful with your fretting, but it works well for me.
 
I use a Turbo Tuner strobe to set it up and fret in playing position by hand when everything else is right . 3rd to 15th works really well because it eliminates the nut and open strings from the equation . You do obviously want the nut to be well cut and the action over the 1st fret to be good or the open strings end up out with the rest.
The reason I only use the Turbo is that it is the only tuner that is accurate to 1/50 cent and to my ears the guitars sound "in tune"using it. I can't say that about many tuners.
 
Andy Eagle said:
I use a Turbo Tuner strobe to set it up and fret in playing position by hand when everything else is right . 3rd to 15th works really well because it eliminates the nut and open strings from the equation . You do obviously want the nut to be well cut and the action over the 1st fret to be good or the open strings end up out with the rest.
The reason I only use the Turbo is that it is the only tuner that is accurate to 1/50 cent and to my ears the guitars sound "in tune"using it. I can't say that about many tuners.
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Tried the 3rd and 15th method this evening. Results were slightly flatter pitches on all of the thicker-cored strings, identical on the thinner-cored strings. Chords played up the neck that were previously in tune with the 12th fret method were now out of tune. Adjusted it back, and it's golden. Just gotta get a set of nut files and slightly widen and polish the nut slots so that the plain strings don't bind. The G binds less than the B and E, sort-of dragging and letting go in small increments, while the B and E actually 'tink' the first time you move them. Sounds like the nut slots are slightly tight and/or not well polished. Looking at these nut files from MusicNomad via Sweetwater....
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
Tried the 3rd and 15th method this evening. Results were slightly flatter pitches on all of the thicker-cored strings, identical on the thinner-cored strings. Chords played up the neck that were previously in tune with the 12th fret method were now out of tune. Adjusted it back, and it's golden.
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I wonder what's different about your guitar(s) and the ones where @Andy Eagle developed his method. It's unlikely he's getting the same results you are.

Not a criticism of either of you, just trying to understand what method to use myself.
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
Tried the 3rd and 15th method this evening. Results were slightly flatter pitches on all of the thicker-cored strings, identical on the thinner-cored strings. Chords played up the neck that were previously in tune with the 12th fret method were now out of tune. Adjusted it back, and it's golden. Just gotta get a set of nut files and slightly widen and polish the nut slots so that the plain strings don't bind. The G binds less than the B and E, sort-of dragging and letting go in small increments, while the B and E actually 'tink' the first time you move them. Sounds like the nut slots are slightly tight and/or not well polished. Looking at these nut files from MusicNomad via Sweetwater....
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Whatever works on a guitar is right.
If it is in when you tune the fretted G but out when tuned to the open E with the two Gs correct it suggests the nut to first fret is off particularly as tuning between the fretted Gs is not off. I may be misunderstanding you here. When you tried the G to G method you did tune the guitar to the fretted 3rd and intonate the 15th?
Look for Hosco brand nut files and specialist luthier tools in general.
They do a set of three double sided and then all the sizes individually.
These are top quality but cheaper than Stewmac. I seriously suggest you avoid cheaper ones.
If you just need to ease the width you can do it with folded 1500grit wet and for the wider slots folded around thin card.
 
Dave Merrill said:
I wonder what's different about your guitar(s) and the ones where @Andy Eagle developed his method. It's unlikely he's getting the same results you are.

Not a criticism of either of you, just trying to understand what method to use myself.
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Check the action and truss rod adjustment first. Everything else must be correct before you intonate and the guitar must be in tune with a set of NOT NEW strings preferably a couple of days old but perfectly clean.
Then fret the third fret by hand in the playing position and tune the guitar to the third fret using a strobe tuner, intonate the fifteenth fret note.
This method ALWAYS gets the fretted notes as close as possible to each other BUT if your nut causes an issue will appear out of tune when tuned to open strings.
You can tell the nut is the issue IF after you intonate with this method and tune to the third the open sting note is off.
This is how Buzz devised his offsets and new nut position.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Whatever works on a guitar is right.
If it is in when you tune the fretted G but out when tuned to the open E with the two Gs correct it suggests the nut to first fret is off particularly as tuning between the fretted Gs is not off. I may be misunderstanding you here. When you tried the G to G method you did tune the guitar to the fretted 3rd and intonate the 15th?
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There it is. Tuned the open E, then checked the two Gs. Will try it again tuning to the fretted G.

Andy Eagle said:
Look for Hosco brand nut files and specialist luthier tools in general.
They do a set of three double sided and then all the sizes individually.
These are top quality but cheaper than Stewmac. I seriously suggest you avoid cheaper ones.
If you just need to ease the width you can do it with folded 1500grit wet and for the wider slots folded around thin card.
Click to expand...
I saw the Hosco ones as well, but wasn't sure about the quality. Saw some Japanese ones also. I have some fine grit wet or dry paper, in grits from 400 to 2000. Will try that first....
 
Rex said:
Those are what I use. I like them. But be careful: they're more aggressive than the steel files you might be used to. You won't be spending as much time grinding away. But if you're not attentive, you may go farther than you intended to.
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This is a good point. Some nut material also cuts very easily (Tusq Graphite) so check often.
 
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