Intonation is Off on B String

[guitarman13]

The first 4 frets of the b string on my acoustic are all sharp when the string is perfectly in tune. Frets 5 and up are perfectly in tune. Any idea of what's causing this?

[TheToneZone]

not enough neck relief?

is this a new development? the weather is changing you know.


mike

[guitarman13]

I think this is a new development, but I'm not sure because I just noticed it. I guess it could have something to do with neck relief, but why would this only be happening on one string?

[frankfalbo]

One possible cause is that the nut slot is too high for that string, so that when you fret the note you are pulling it sharp just to get it to touch the fret. By the time you get to the 5th fret, the tension balances out. Another is that you press too hard, so you are stretching the string sharp when you fret just by squeezing the string.

The reason it would affect the B and not any of the wound strings, is because the wound strings aren't as susceptible to pitch change from stretching. (It has to do with the size of the core) and the high E is pretty negligible as well, which is why it's almost always the farthest forward on a compensated saddle. (electric or acoustic for that matter)

[TheToneZone]

of course frank may be right too.

all i know is that the G is the only finicky string i get.