Friday, October 5, 2012

The Right Way Of Fixing Intonation For Guitars

By Sharlene Fleming


There are times when your guitar will go out of tune even if you take really good care of it. There are also times when no matter how much you tune it, it still fails to get the right tune. For this situation, the problem lies with the intonation of your guitar. There are several ways and techniques that you can use for fixing intonation of your guitars.

You can actually use an electric tuner in fixing this kind of problem. In order to begin the process, you will have to first get your guitar in tune. You can use any method of tuning that you are really comfortable with like tuning them by ear. For better accuracy, it would be better if you use a pick when you are doing a tuning.

Once the instrument is already in tune, check the pitches of strings. This will help you determine which ones will need certain adjustments. You can do this by checking the pitch values of the 12th fret. Commonly, this should be similar however if they are not, then there is a problem with that certain string. You need to use an electric tuner for this step.

After figuring out the strings that need to be adjusted, you can now adjust the guitar's bridge or the action. There are two things that you should do when adjusting this. If the pitch of the string is on sharp you need to lengthen the string by moving the bridge further from the neck of your guitar. If it is on flat, then do the opposite.

You should also check the 12th fret every time you make certain adjustments. You can use the electric tuner for this as well. There are many models that require different methods for shortening and lengthening strings. Some of the most common models usually uses clockwise method in lengthening and the opposite to shorten. It is best that you get information from a seller or any other source about the pattern that your particular model has.

There are also some that adjusts the neck bow of their guitars for this problem. This is done however for those that have minor problems like the strings having same tones but different pitches. It is minor compared to when you make adjustments for your action. There are also those that uses both methods for better results.

If both methods will not work, there are others that you can use. However these are methods that are not really recommended to be used by beginners in the craft. One method that is popular is that of moving the saddle. This will need certain woodwork and can best be done by experts in such.

You can also go for the option of shimming at the nut. Most of the time this is employed when only one string has a problem. A hard material is added to the fretboard at the nut in this method. It is considered to be really effective but it also needs to be done by someone expert in the work.

After doing the method that you are most comfortable with, you can now test your guitar by playing a little. If ever it still does not give you the results that you desire, you should take your instrument and have it inspected by a professional. Fixing intonation for your guitar, if not done properly, can cause more damage to your instrument therefore you will have to be careful in doing so or let experts do the work for you.




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