Posts Tagged ‘adjustment’
String Theory – A Guitar Note [also see text notes]
Due to my observations and that it is not expressed too much, if at all, in any guitar literature, here is a note about intonation and bridge saddle compensation. As a slight exageration to express the point of this video: Consider an uncompensated bridge saddle where the lenght of the bass E String is the same length of the high e string. Pressing down the length of the bass E string at the 12th fret will produce about a step higher or an F note. This is not the E note that is wanted. This effect of a raised note is due to the thickness of the string and the increased tension needed to fret a thicker string. Increased tension means a higher note, just as increasing the string tension at the tuners means a higher note. To compensate or adjust for this effect, the bridge saddle is placed back which lengthens the string a bit [of course you must retune the open E string always when adjusting its length with the bridge saddles], the net result is that when the string is fretted at say the 12 fret (or any fret) that the proper note needed is heard.
Due to the length of the bass E string being longer than any other string, in particular the high e string, the center of the string is no longer over the 12th fret, and hence the harmonic of that string is no longer over the 12th fret and can never be; so dont try adjusting the saddle to do it because then your compensation will be off.
Also, because of this, it is perhaps best not to play harmonics when adjusting intonation. [This effect is usually more noticable over acoustic guitars where the bass E string is very thick and the saddle compensation is greater]
How to check intonation: First tune your guitar. Fret the 12th fret of the sting. To make things easy, consider the 12th fret as a new scale or nut. If the note is lower than expected, then the length of the string from the nut (here the 12th fret) to the saddle is too long since longer strings mean reduced frequency (ie. lower note). To correct this, simply shorten the string by bringing the saddle closer to the nut position. You must now retune the open string since you have changed the length and therefore the tone of it. Check the intonation again. If the 12fret note is higher in sound than expected, then simply do the opposite of what was mentioned.
My Father who once worked at Martin helped me develop some ideas when I made a small acoustic guitar.
Duration : 0:2:6
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Episode 2 – Adjusting your pickup height
This video teaches you step-by-step how to adjust your bass guitar‘s pickup height.
Duration : 0:3:32
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Episode 2 – Adjusting your pickup height
This video teaches you step-by-step how to adjust your bass guitar‘s pickup height.
Duration : 0:3:32
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Truss Rod Adjustment
Ernie
Bass In (a little more than) 60 Seconds : Saddle Adjustment
Action/Saddle height adjustment. Setting up your bass to play like budda. Or whatever you like.
Duration : 0:2:16
