My guitar is perfectly intonated, however...

[Random Hero]

It is fretting flat at the 9th on the D string. Infact, from about the 4th fret upwards.

Whas goin on?

 

[Philip]

the only thing that comes to my mind is old/bad string, try changing it and see if it is gone,

good luck,


Philip

 

[Random Hero]

ive just changed strings and its still there.

I'm really worried somethings up with the neck :S

 

[Philip]

hmm it might be the neck, but I can't figure out how it would be possible, intonation is bad if the frets are in bad place so in that case all strings would have this problem, had you noticed that earlier or did it come out recently?

 

[Random Hero]

well, you see, my guitar spent the entire day in a freezing cold car, and it seems to have appeared since then. I can't ever remember noticing it before, but I also didn't check every single fret before. But yeh, it is only one one string. The rest are fine. It's only the D.

What could it be, if it IS the neck?

 

[Philip]

I am not a pro in that matter I'm afraid, I'm only guessing here... but if it was seating in the cold car and stuff like that, maybe it just needs tweaking truss rod a little bit

 

[tommyindelaware]

what is yer guitar ?????

 

[Katana6506]

RH has a JP6 in Graphpearl.

 

[Random Hero]

yeh, JP6, graphite pearl.

 

[Random Hero]

it's really weird. When I change the intonation of the string, no matter where it's positioned, it seems to be perfectly intonated, which is odd, and the problem won't correct!

 

[Random Hero]

well.

thats slightly on the odd side I have to say.

I shortened the string to the point where the saddle was at its very furthest away from the bridge, and worked back from there, and its fully intonated and intune now. All over the neck.

Why the hell did that happen?

 

[Philip]

hehe don't know but it's good heh maybe saddle was keeping the string or sth like that, maybe it needed a pre-stretch,hmmm

 

[Random Hero]

lol. that was all very odd. but thankfully its sorted. The saddle is nowhere near where it was before, but hey, the whole guitar is now in perfect tune.

Not bad work for a pure amateur tech like moi eh? heh

 

[Motojunkie]

If you use the harmonic method of setting intonation, it can throw off your results at times. Another thing that can affect your intonation is the tuner itself. Unless you're using a strobe tuner or a Peterson virtual strobe, chances are that your intonation is only close.

Peterson actually has a great method for intonation in their manuals. Here's a quote -

APPENDIX B Setting Guitar/Bass Intonation
After deciding on string gauge, string height setting (nut and bridge), and neck
relief—factors that affect guitar or bass intonation considerably—the individual
string lengths must be adjusted.
• Lower the pickups away from the strings to avoid "doubling" and
electromagnetic pull.
• Lay the instrument flat on a bench to adjust it, but always check the
intonation with the instrument in the playing position as the readings will
be visibly (and later audibly) different. You should always aim to freeze or
"cage" the image of the VS-II strobe display; the less overall movement up
or down, the more accurate the results.
• Always slacken the string while adjusting the saddle position. Failing to
do so may damage the string, the saddle, or in some cases, even the neck!
• Apply some graphite to the nut slots. This helps prevent the string from
binding.
As previously stated, "action" is another important factor influencing correct fretting
(intonation). The higher the action, the further the string must be depressed to
contact the fret. As this happens, greater pressure is exerted on the string resulting
in an increase in pitch.
A high action may cause sharp notes; a low action may cause fret buzz. Action
adjustments can be made at the nut, saddle, or in extreme cases, by resetting the
neck. (On a banjo, coordinator rods or dowel sticks can be adjusted for proper
action.)
A common method for setting intonation is to compare the 12th fret (pressed) and
12th fret flageolet (harmonic):
• If the fretted note is flat compared to the flageolet note, move the bridge
saddle forward to shorten the string.
• If the fretted note is sharp compared to the flageolet note, move the bridge
saddle back to lengthen the string.
• Adjust until both fretted note and and flageolet are identical in pitch.
While this is a common technique, it is not always the most satisfactory. Another
popular alternative is to adjust each string so that it is in tune at two points an octave
apart from each other on the fretboard with a strobe tuner. Using the 5th and 17th
fret as an example:
24
• Tune a string at the 5th fret.
• Check the string at the 17th fret. If sharp, move the saddle back to lengthen
the string. If flat, shorten the string by moving the saddle forward.
Remember to fret the string using the pressure that you would normally
apply while playing!
• Repeat this process until each string is in tune as much as possible at both
the 5th and 17th frets.
This method takes time and must be repeated if you change string gauges but, if
properly executed, yields very satisfactory results.

 

[Philip]

yeah, but remember don't try to level frets or cut the nut, amateurs (like me) have sometimes stupid ideas (believe me)

 

[Random Hero]

I should add that I actually did tweak the truss slightly aswell, I forgot about that.

All is fine and dandy now.

I'm lookin at gettin a strobe or peterson tuner sometime soon too. Thanks for the paste though motojunkie.

 

[Motojunkie]

No problem bro. Peterson tuners rock.

 

[rrhea]

Maybe I'm retarded, but I have a Peterson but I never use it because getting a reading on the thing is so freakin' hard.

The strobes never stop undulating so I never know if the string is in tune or not. Is there a trick to this?

RR

 

[beej]

Tune the note till you're close, then take your hands off the tuning machine - it should stabilize. Keep doing that till you're dead on. Takes a bit of practise.

 

[Motojunkie]

Another tip is to switch to the neck pickup (if you have one) and lower the volume a bit. If you give it too strong of a signal it'll hunt a bit.