saddles not aligned - educate me

yurich · #1 01-03-2002, 07:25 PM

about my Floyd again...
(sorry if I got teh terminology all wrong)

- should the saddles in the trem be aligned with each other?
- why are there two spots for the "intonation lock screw" and which should I use? why * *are they called that?
- a bit OT, but can I tighten the trem arm with the arm holder screw?

thanks

**jemsite** · #2 01-03-2002, 07:30 PM

the saddles are not alligned across the strings, rather should be set for perfect INTONATION. The two holes for the inonation set screws allows the saddle to be placed where needed for intonation

...glen

yurich · #3 01-03-2002, 07:42 PM

so you're saying I should just leave 'em like they are, they were set up this way on purpose? How do I know if right now it's set to correct intonation?

And what about that trem arm thingy?

**jemsite** · #4 01-03-2002, 07:45 PM

for intonation... see the TECH SETUP area of jemsite. i don't understand the trem bar question, but no doubt it's in the tech setup area

...glen

yurich · #5 01-03-2002, 07:50 PM

gotcha, I'll see what I can find there.

I'm talking about this little screw at the bottom of the arm holder. You can adjust it from the back, if you take the trem cover off. See, my bar is a bit loose so I was wondering if tweaking that sucker would do anything.

**jemsite** · #6 01-03-2002, 07:51 PM

the screw adjusts nothing

it simply holds the guide-wire that locks in the trem arm. Tech Setup area covers all this. Good luck... glen

Two hands31 · #7 01-03-2002, 10:49 PM

Quick intonation check (all guitarists should know this): *hit the 12th fret natural harmonic on a string, then fret the 12th fret on that string. *If both are the same, the intonation on that string is ok. *Do this to all the strings.

Rich · #8 01-03-2002, 10:55 PM

Accurate intonation. Tune the open string then fret the last fret on the board. Adjust as needed.

yurich · #9 01-04-2002, 12:26 AM

but if I were to do that, I'd have to take the string off every time I have to adjust. What a pain in the a$$!!

Thanks for the tips

Rich · #10 01-04-2002, 12:51 AM

You can slack the strings enough on all but the high e and b just by clamping the trem bar to the body and move the saddles. The e and b you'll have to slack with the tuners. Or you could buy an intonation tool and make it easy. You never have to remove the string to intonate either way.

It may be a pain but you only have to do it once so the effort really is worth it. The guitar will sound so much better in the upper registers you'll be amazed at the difference.

big al · #11 01-04-2002, 01:27 PM

Slightly off the subject...but will a standard $79 tuner be good enough for setting the intonation?
I have always used my trusty old chromatic tuner but I have often wondered how accurate it may be. Then again, how accurate is my playing?
What tuners seem to work the best?

Two hands31 · #12 01-04-2002, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Rich on 9:55 pm on Jan. 3, 2002
Accurate intonation. Tune the open string then fret the last fret on the board. Adjust as needed.

Unless you have a 21 or 22 fret guitar (like me). *

Rich · #13 01-04-2002, 03:04 PM

It makes no difference how many frets you have, intonate to the last one. 22 frets? then high e is intonated to d when fretted at the 22nd, etc.

Strobe tuners must be nice but all I have is a Sabine 1000. It gets the job done. It may not be accurate to a hundreth of a cent, but it's accurate enough.

Texter · #14 01-04-2002, 04:52 PM

If your intonation is incorrect, your guitar will start to wobble a bit on high gain settings playing high notes. That's how you can get real close...and tone deaf, probably, if you don't get it at once. A little vibrato can do the trick as well. Sounds stylish for that matter