Intonation problems...any ideas??

[TS808]

I've been setting up my own guitars now for years (strats) according to Fender's recommended specs, and never had any trouble until now.

The high e, b and g strings intonate perfectly (I'm using 10's by the way). On the D, A, and low E strings, they keep coming up flat no matter what I do in terms of moving the saddles.

I keep my trem floating, and the neck has .010 relief on the 8th fret, and the string height is set at 2/32" of an inch above the 17th fret.

Also, and this might just be the old tuner I have, but with the lower 3 strings (D, A, and especially E) when I pick the harmonic on the 12th fret the needle seems to go back and forth..hard to read, but when I fret the note, no problem.

Any idea why they may not be intonating right?

 

[marnold]

Try it with the neck pickup and the tone control rolled all the way down. Also, you really should block the trem when you try to do this. Floating will make it difficult, if not impossible.

 

[wingsdad]

It might be that your old tuner is fixin' to die, or maybe the battery is so the tuner's brain is :messedup: but you've probably already checked that possibility.

An oft-overlooked factor with intonation that can fine-tune string length besides bridge saddle distance forward or back is saddle height or angle. With the 6 independent saddles that a 6-saddle Strat or Tele bridge have, this marvelous piece of design allows you to do this. Try doing some very slight (1/8 turn or less) adjustments to your saddle's 2 height/angle screws, one side or the other at a time, up or down.

(Tune-a-matic bridges can only go up or down on one end of the other, so you lose the luxury of being able to fine-tune this way...it may be why Strats and Teles are my favorites).

 

[TS808]

I've tried everything in terms of checking the battery (although I am thinking about getting a new tuner since mine is probably as old as me), saddle height, using different pickups, etc. The only thing I haven't tried is blocking the trem which might be a good idea.

As the strings keep showing up as flat, I keep moving the saddles forward (in the direction of the nut) and pretty soon if I keep moving them forward they are going to be part of the pickguard

I'm wondering too if it could be something with string vibration as well. Pickup height is set to Fender specs as well so they aren't too low on the bass side. I even checked to make sure that the bass side of the trem was up against the post properly.

It's only doing this on my one strat. The other strat is fine.

 

[aeolian]

I was going to suggest checking pickup height on the bass side, but you've already considered it. If you block the trem and it stops the problem then you know the problem is the trem. I would say start there.

 

[TS808]

I was going to suggest checking pickup height on the bass side, but you've already considered it. If you block the trem and it stops the problem then you know the problem is the trem. I would say start there.

I'll give that a shot. I'm seriously considering not having my trems float anyway, since I tend to use my fingers more anymore for a vibrato effect. I'll set them flat and see if that makes a difference.

I do notice that the strings I use (DR tite fit) have very "spongy" bass side strings. I'm going to stop and get a tuner on the way home today too lol.

If not, I'll just take it to a tech.

Thank you all!

 

[TS808]

Follow up: I picked up a new tuner today on the way home from work (the tuner I had was about 20 years old I would guess lol) and I changed the strings, raised the saddles a quarter turn on the three wound strings, and was able to intonate. I think it was a combo of an old tuner as well as just needing to make some minor changes to the top three saddles.

Also, I changed to D'Addario strings..they seem to be a bit stiffer than the DR's I was using and stay in tune a bit better.

Thanks for all the help on this!!

 

[marnold]

No problem. Glad you got it solved. Intonation issues with floating bridges can be a major PITA.