OK I'm not musically gifted,not a clue how music suppose to sound.(seeing that I'm partially tone deaf and have been all my life and yes I do wear hearing aids but only when watching TV)
if it sound OK to me but be way out to some one who knows.
does it really matter if the intonation is not correct say from the open to the 12th fret it is GDG but the rest is not.
all I know of intonation is high 'n' low in sounds
the reason why I'm asking is that my little 3 sting acoustic that I converted from a 6 stringer.
it is Tune GDG in open to fretted 12th but all others are not is this normal?
set by my tuner 439 HZ
frets......
3rd C ,F,B (all just past the green onto red mark)
5th C,G,C
7th D,A,D
9th E,B,E
12th G,D,G spot on
its a cheap 3/4 acoustic with a flat fret board with brass frets.
it probably only cost about £30/£40 it was nade in the czech republic.
I've since removed the plastic nut and put a bolt on and cut the bridge down as it was sitting to high.
also the bolt some how made it sound better...well it did to me.
Tags:
Hey John,
Cool little guitar. One thing I noticed is the saddle on the bridge...it is perpendicular to the strings. This is common on nylon-strung acoustic guitars. Steel string acoustics will have a saddle that is slightly angled, rather than perpendicular, to adjust for the "intonation". When steel strings are pressed down to fret a note, they tighten up sooner than nylon strings will, which makes steel strings increase their relative pitch. So each gauge of steel string requires a bit of adjustment in relation to scale length and the overall sound of each note.
Nylon strings stretch a bit more before pressing down/fretting a note. So this is why the angled saddle isn't really common in that application.
So, if it matters to you, two things to do. First, measure from nut to 12th fret and double that to determine the total scale length. Then look on Stewmac.com for the fret calculator, use it to get the fret locations, and check against your frets to see if they are spot on or not. Likely they are fine. Then, if you're using steel strings, you may need to replace the bridge with one designed for steel strings (with the angled saddle).
But all this is just hog spit if you're happy with it as it is.
A very simple way to check intonation from the twelfth fret - fit your tuner in the usual way, tune each string exactly spot on ie : G D G b, then place finger on 12th fret each string in turn and the tuner should again read G D G b but sound an octave up to your ear.
If each note is sharp slightly move the bridge to the back, if it is flat move the bridge slightly towards the neck. :)
I think the bolts have a nice sound too. The steel of the bolt would be harder than plastic. If I'm getting all fancy and making my own nuts, I make them out of bone, which is also harder than plastic.
The thing that Michael Fred Johnson pointed out could also affect the intonation as you're making the string length a bit longer, but the frets have stayed the same. You could either make the fretboard shorter so that the apex of the bolt is in the right spot, or modify the bolt or replace it with a nut which has the apex at the end of the fingerboard.
from the centre of the nut to the centre of the bridge is 622mm.roughly 24.5"
when I got the guitar it had a couple of steel strings on so I assumed it was a steel stringed guitar.
I'll put some nylon ones on later.
I'm not to bothered about whether it is tuned correctly here or there.
it was something that I had in mind to mess about making a 3 stringer etc.
no doubt you've all probably thought to and tried only to find it wasn't such a good idea after all but you had to do it ! to settle your mind.
what you guys have said is some thing that I can take on board for future builds. thanks.
just wanted to play practice to get my fingers to go where I want them(when I get around to it)
Slowpaw is absolutely correct, however when plucking at the 12th fret, you're looking for a weak, harmonic sound (damp the string and pluck as you remove your finger)
yeah but the bridge is glue on so canna move it.
Michael Fred Johnson is bang on - replacing the conventional nut with a bolt has without any doubt completely screwed all your intonation - it will play out of tune at every fret.
nut house more like!!
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