Understanding and Setting Your Guitar's Intonation

Making sure that your guitar has the intonation set up correctly is vital to the guitar's ability to play in tune all the way up and down the neck. It's pretty simple to do and will make all the difference in how your guitar sounds, since the foundation of you and your guitar sounding great lies in being in tune.

Different gauges of strings need different "compensation", or changes in the overall string length to adjust for physical variations of each string, thereby requiring different individual string lengths. That is why almost all electric guitars have individually adjustable saddles within the bridge or tailpiece. The exceptions would be a Gibson style combination stop tailpiece/ bridge that has no adjustments. But you will notice even on these types of bridges the intonation is usually "preset" to allow for at least more correct intonation. Acoustic guitars cannot be adjusted either, but you can install a bridge that has at least some compensation to make it play more accurately in tune, particularly as you move up ( toward the body) the neck.

To set a guitar's intonation, you will need a tuner and a small (sometimes quite small) screwdriver. the first order of business is determining how close each individual string is to having the proper intonation. Start with the low E. With the string tuned to pitch, fret the low E at the 12th fret. Try and simulate the pressure you would use when playing; I have seen people setting intonation that may fret the string with too much force, especially since the guitar may be lying on a bench. This can have the effect of causing the fretted note to sound slightly sharper. I know it sounds anal retentive, but it can make a small difference in your final result. The goal is to have the open string and the 12th fret note to both be in tune to E (or whatever the case may be). The rule of thumb is simple: if the fretted note is sharp, adjust the saddle further away from the nut, thereby increasing string length. If the fretted note is flat, adjust the saddle forward (towards the neck), thereby shortening the string length. You may have to loosen the string slightly before you make the adjustment to minimize stress on the string. Usually slight adjustments can make a big difference. It will take a bit of trial and error. Proceed through all the strings until they have all been adjusted, then check one more time as things can magically change slightly as you progress.

Let's review:

• Tune string to pitch
• Observe tuning of string when fretted at 12th fret
• If tuning is sharp at 12th fret: move saddle back. If flat: move saddle forward (towards neck). May have to loosen string to perform this, then tune to pitch to check your progress.
• Repeat on all strings and check all strings one more time when done
• Strum and shred (if you want, I know I would!)

A few final thoughts: Some will check the tuning of a harmonic at the 12th fret against the fretted note at the 12th fret. From the experts I have spoken with and from experience, this is not the correct method. Check the open string against the fretted 12th fret. Don't drive yourself too nuts trying to make it perfect. It is not a perfect science. There are many physical things about the guitar in general that make it impossible to be perfect and to play  in tune all over the neck. We are just trying to get the guitar to play in tune as best we can, considering the drawbacks and flaws of the instrument itself. Rock on good People !

---

---