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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 181
Location: North Carolina | Hi guys,
I have a quick question about intonation. I tune my low E string on my CE778 down to C. I dealt with the buzzing problems by raising the action (thanks again Trboy!) and loosening the truss rod a bit. However, as you might guess, I am having intonation problems on this string. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to move back the point of contact between the saddle and string. This is especially tricky since the Ovation saddle is the pick-up (hi-output in my case). I am considering putting a piece of micarta behind the saddle that is slightly higher than the existing saddle that will move the contact back a bit, but I don't know if this will interfere with the piezo's ability to detect vibration. Any one have any experience with this? Thanks.
Franklin |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | If you find that the intonation is suspect at the first few frets it's more effective to deal with it at the nut than the saddle. Basically you need to move the nut closer to the first fret by a hair. There's no "correct" figure as every guitar is different. Most luthiers use some degree of nut compensation, but it's less common on factory-made guitars & non-existant on imports.
Check this out: http://www.mimf.com/nutcomp/
This is a fully compensated nut, but you don't need to go that far to make an improvement. There's an explanation of a simpler method here
http://www.doolinguitars.com/intonation/intonation4.html
There is also a ready made compensated nut available.
http://www.earvana.com/
You have to be very careful doing anything to the pickup/saddle assembly. The original Ovation high-output pickup is very tolerant of variations in string-gauge & tension, but your micarta idea wont work. |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 181
Location: North Carolina | Thanks for the great links, Paul. I read through them and let me ask you a question. My intonation problem is that the first few fretted notes are in tune but that by fret 4 or 5 the notes are sharp. As I go up the neck they get sharper and sharper until by the 12th fret the note is very sharp. I recently tried Elixir polys (med.) and absolutely loved them but they made my intonation problems worse compared to the Daddario EJ17's I was using. Does this sound like a nut adjustment would help or it this more of a saddle issue ( or both)? As you said, doing anything to the saddle would be tenuous at best.
Thanks.
Franklin |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | There's lots of factors which contribute to accuracy of intonation: action, neck relief, string gauge etc and with an acoustic guitar you'll only ever reach a compromise. It's difficult to offer any practical advice without seeing the instrument. You said you backed-off the neck-rod. Too much neck relief could be contributing to your problem, so check that. Maybe talk to John or Kim at customer service. |
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Joined:
February 2003
Posts: 299
Location: Netherlands | Great links, Paul. thnx. So far i've only been doing major repairs on my electrics, but this may get me into doing some homework on my older acoustics as well.
Martin |
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Intonation adjustment
