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Newbie fretting & tuning question

Good morning!

Cliff notes - bought my first CBG on eBay with the intention of jamming on it and learning before I build one.

I notice when I tune cleanly to GDG, any fretted note is out of tune, even from fret 1....some by a lot! Once I get down to the 5th and 7th fret, it's not even close.

Any adjustments you can recommend to help me? Is it user error?

(I've been a keyboard player for a long time... never had to worry about my tuning before! HA!)

Thanks in advance & have a great day!

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Permalink Reply by Jon trownson on November 15, 2016 at 4:25am

What scale is it? Sounds like your bridge needs moving back a little.. also if your top nut is too much lower than the bridge this can alter the scale lenth required,,

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Permalink Reply by Chris Anderson on November 15, 2016 at 4:50am

I believe it's 25.5". I'll take a look at that first.

Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by JL on November 15, 2016 at 5:01am

Agreed, If they are going sharp as you go up the frets, the bridge needs to move further away from the nut. Pictures would help....

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on November 15, 2016 at 6:42am

Without seeing a picture, I'd wager money that the action is way too high, especially at the nut.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Anderson on November 15, 2016 at 8:48am

Not knowing better, I felt the same when I first got it.

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on November 15, 2016 at 10:28am

All the previous comments are right, but, have you checked, after tuning the open strings, that you are getting the same note 1 octave higher at the 12th fret? Something in your post suggests to me you haven't, and if so that should be your starting point, once you have the bridge in that position, you can fine tune your action and intonation at the nut and bridge, start by placing the bridge at twice the distance from the contact point on the nut to the 12th fret, ie. if a 25.5" scale, it should be 12 3/4" from nut to 12th fret, set the bridge at that length on the top [thinnest ] string, tune that till you get a g open and at 12, then do the bottom string the same, you will probably need to angle the bridge towards the tail a little to achieve this, but from there, you can check each fret for intonation

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on November 15, 2016 at 11:30am

Listen to Darryl. Measure from the front edge of the nut to the center of the 12th fret. If it is not 12 3/4" then the scale is not 25.5.

Set the bridge twice the distance from the nut to the 12th, then tune up.

Now, take a slide and very lightly set it on a string right above a fret. If it is now in tune, try pressing the string to the fret with your finger. If it is not sharp, then your action is too high for fretting. A lot of CBG's are set up for slide only and have very high action.

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Permalink Reply by JL on November 16, 2016 at 2:38am

you didn't say if the fretted notes get sharp or flat, we are assuming they go sharp, and get sharper as you go up the neck?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Anderson on November 16, 2016 at 2:59am

First of all, you all rock!

I apologize for the CBG101 question, but appreciate everyone's two cents.

Turns out you were ALL right!

As soon as I got it in the mail, not knowing guitars much I felt the action was very high. That was the main culprit. Removed the nut, sanded down a little, lowered the action right away.

25.5" scale, but I moved the bridge down maybe 1/4" or so. Between both moves, it's in tune all the way down, and significantly easier to play!! AND better sounding for the rest of my family!

Again, I appreciate all of your wisdom and insight! I didn't even build it and learned a lot just from this!

Hope your week rocks!