If you play the guitar, you may have experienced times when the instrument kept on sounding out of tune, no matter how well you tuned it. When this happens, the instrument's intonation is probably out. Luckily it is usually easy to fix your guitar intonation setup.
Correct intonation means that the instrument sounds tuned no matter where on the neck you're playing. Intonation that is out causes the guitar to sound in tune in the first couple of frets only. The closer you are playing to the instrument's body, however, the more the strings start to sound as if you haven't tuned them.
You can solve the problem by moving the bridge saddles. The bridge saddles are located on the body of the guitar. You fix the strings onto the guitar at the bridge saddles. Moving the bridge saddles will basically change string length to improve tonality.
Before you can do this, however, you should replace the old strings with new ones and tune your instrument. When you tune the strings, use the tuning that you normally use. In other words, if you don't normally play in standard tuning but with for example a drop D tuning instead, use that instead of standard tuning. Instead of trying to tune by ear, you should use an electronic tuner if you can, because the reading will be more accurate.
Once you've tuned the strings, you can start checking them for intonation. There are different ways of doing this, but using the harmonic will give you the best results. The harmonic is the almost tinkling sound you get when you don't press the string down but only lightly touch and release it. If you don't get this sound on the first try, touch the string in a slightly different position.
When you've got the hang of playing harmonics, do this at the twelfth fret. Then play the twelfth-fret note in the regular way. The twelfth fret is the point where there should be a one-octave difference between the note as played in the regular way and its harmonic.
With your tuner you can compare the reading you get for each twelfth-fret note to the reading that its harmonic gives you. You want the harmonic to be an octave higher than the regular note. When the regular note is flat, it will be lower than its harmonic. To rectify this, move the bridge towards the head, in other words, forward. When the regular note is sharp, it will sound higher than its harmonic. Fix this by moving the bridge backward. In other words, move it toward the body of the instrument. Keep comparing the regular note and the harmonic until your tuner shows you that the difference between them is exactly one octave.
An acoustic guitar usually have a bridge that is fixed onto the instrument and you cannot move it. So, you may have to enlist the help of a luthier to adjust the guitar intonation setup for you. On an electric guitar, however, you should be able to do it all by yourself since each string has its own separate bridge saddle.
Correct intonation means that the instrument sounds tuned no matter where on the neck you're playing. Intonation that is out causes the guitar to sound in tune in the first couple of frets only. The closer you are playing to the instrument's body, however, the more the strings start to sound as if you haven't tuned them.
You can solve the problem by moving the bridge saddles. The bridge saddles are located on the body of the guitar. You fix the strings onto the guitar at the bridge saddles. Moving the bridge saddles will basically change string length to improve tonality.
Before you can do this, however, you should replace the old strings with new ones and tune your instrument. When you tune the strings, use the tuning that you normally use. In other words, if you don't normally play in standard tuning but with for example a drop D tuning instead, use that instead of standard tuning. Instead of trying to tune by ear, you should use an electronic tuner if you can, because the reading will be more accurate.
Once you've tuned the strings, you can start checking them for intonation. There are different ways of doing this, but using the harmonic will give you the best results. The harmonic is the almost tinkling sound you get when you don't press the string down but only lightly touch and release it. If you don't get this sound on the first try, touch the string in a slightly different position.
When you've got the hang of playing harmonics, do this at the twelfth fret. Then play the twelfth-fret note in the regular way. The twelfth fret is the point where there should be a one-octave difference between the note as played in the regular way and its harmonic.
With your tuner you can compare the reading you get for each twelfth-fret note to the reading that its harmonic gives you. You want the harmonic to be an octave higher than the regular note. When the regular note is flat, it will be lower than its harmonic. To rectify this, move the bridge towards the head, in other words, forward. When the regular note is sharp, it will sound higher than its harmonic. Fix this by moving the bridge backward. In other words, move it toward the body of the instrument. Keep comparing the regular note and the harmonic until your tuner shows you that the difference between them is exactly one octave.
An acoustic guitar usually have a bridge that is fixed onto the instrument and you cannot move it. So, you may have to enlist the help of a luthier to adjust the guitar intonation setup for you. On an electric guitar, however, you should be able to do it all by yourself since each string has its own separate bridge saddle.
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