Help! JP12 Intonation

[FantasyMetal]

Hey everyone,
So I decided to check the intonation on my JP12 on Sunday because I thought it sounded like it could use a tune-up. Turns out the intonation was a mess (not surprising, our weather up here has been crazy and that wreaks havoc on instruments). I looked up on the EBMM FAQ part of the website and saw there guidelines for intonating a JP and followed them. I made sure the fretted 12th note and harmonic were in tune and then checked the harmonic at the 19th and I was go for launch. However, I started playing and noticed that while things were better overall, I have some weird and wacky stuff going on between the D and G strings. Namely when I would play an A Major or E major chord a la "Crazy Train" on the D, G, and B strings the D and G strings sounded hugely out of whack. Also, A-C and G-B double stops like in "Curse of the Pharoahs" are just God awful sounding. I've now checked the intonation with two different tuners and they both say that it's spot on. Any suggestions as to what might be the cause? Or has anybody had this problem?

 

[Norrin Radd]

Man - so hard to tell without having it front of you. What gauge set are you using?

 

[FantasyMetal]

I'm using just regular cobalt slinky's 0.10-0.46.

 

[DrKev]

Again, without the guitar in front of me it's impossible to say.

Are the strings brand spanking new and freshly installed? They should be.
How good is your tuner and is it accurate enough for intonation? +/- 1 cent should be your minimum accuracy.
Are you tuning and intonating with the guitar in your standard playing position? (Unless you play lying on your back, do not tune and intonate with your guitar lying on a table).

Remember, a perfect guitar will not tune to what the ear thinks is perfect (in fact the only interval that should be perfect is the octave, which is why most people who tune by ear have can be so frustrated). but our ears also get accustomed to what we regularly hear. It could be that you're just so used to what it was that it sounds funny now?

Look up the Guild of American Luthiers Data sheet #45, and Jack Endino's 'Tuning Nightmares'. Useful articles where tuning is concerned.

 

[FantasyMetal]

The strings are indeed brand new. Also I am intonating in play position. However, it looks like the tuners I'm using only have dashes for 10 cent intervals, so perhaps a more accurate tuner will solve my problem. I'll come back if I have more issues. Thanks for the advice!

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Also make sure you set the intonation using the bridge pickup with volume & tone up!

 

[Norrin Radd]

Also make sure you set the intonation using the bridge pickup with volume & tone up!

Never heard that one before! What's the theory behind it?

 

[Lou]

You can dial it in even more precise with a green handled screwdriver.

 

[DrKev]

That's a left handed green-handled screwdriver. Jeez, you guys...!

 

[mtrejo]

Face north as well.

 

[peterd79]

Never heard that one before! What's the theory behind it?

i forget the theory but there's some info on the other forum we frequent...

But i can say that i've tried it and it does make a difference... ever so slightly but does make a difference...

 

[DrKev]

Personally, I'll always use neck pickup, with the tone rolled down. The string harmonics will confuse many tuners, some of the harmonics are out of tune anyway, and we need to tune the fundamental note, the harmonics are not the goal. Bridge pickup with the tone all the way up seems to me to be the exact opposite of what I would do.

 

[beej]

Personally, I'll always use neck pickup, with the tone rolled down.

Have to say, this is exactly what I do as well. I find that gets the most accurate results from my tuners.

 

[FantasyMetal]

Okay, so I borrowed a Peterson StroboFlip and set the intonation (12th harmonic, to 12th fretted) and got it perfect. However, I'm seeing that the 19th harmonic is sharp on all these strings. Also, the chords really don't sound any better. Not sure where to go from here. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Have you checked the intonation with that same tuner on one of your other guitars? At this point I wonder if you are hearing something that might not be there due to over worrying/concern. I'd check another guitar of the same scale length and compare the intonation results back and forth.

 

[FantasyMetal]

Okay, so I just checked the intonation on the JP6 that I just got from yellowv03 and its intonation is spot on according to the Peterson tuner, and I'm hearing things correctly on it. On the JP12 the chords are sounding more out of tune.

 

[DrKev]

I would always say that intonation is never perfect, it justoneof many compromises that is part and parcel of a fretted instrument. so I really don't sweat it too much. As any accurate tuner will show, jus changing finger position will throw notes out of perfect tune VERY easily.

FantasyMetal, maybe you should give customer service a call.

 

[FantasyMetal]

Just wanted to give a quick update: I tweaked the truss rod a bit to take out some of the relief in the neck and now the intonation seems better. I've got it almost exactly where I want it, so I just need to do the rest by ear I guess. Thank you all for the suggestions and the assistance, I really appreciate it!

 

[dannymusic]

Face north as well.

real north? or magnetic north?