The Nigerian Mvies

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Sunday 7 October 2012

Techniques In Fixing Intonation For Your Guitars

By Sharlene Fleming


Guitars normally get out of tune despite your taking good care of the instrument. However, sometimes no matter what kind of tuning you use, it is still out of pitch. In such a situation, the intonation of your instrument may be the one that is off. Therefore you will have to do several methods for fixing intonation of your particular instrument.

You can actually use an electric tuner in fixing this kind of problem. In order to begin the process, you will have to first get your guitar in tune. You can use any method of tuning that you are really comfortable with like tuning them by ear. For better accuracy, it would be better if you use a pick when you are doing a tuning.

Once you tuned your guitar, try to figure out which strings need to be fixed. The notes on the 12th fret should have same values. If not, that particular strong will need to be fixed. There are some strings that need different types of fixes depending on the problem that they have. This is where an electric tuner will be best used.

After figuring out the strings that need to be adjusted, you can now adjust the guitar's bridge or the action. There are two things that you should do when adjusting this. If the pitch of the string is on sharp you need to lengthen the string by moving the bridge further from the neck of your guitar. If it is on flat, then do the opposite.

Every time you adjust the bridge, you will have to check with the 12th fret if they are well adjusted already. The electric tuner will help you determine if they are already in the right pitch. There are models that do not follow the common pattern of adjusting actions. Normally it should be clockwise if you want to lengthen and the opposite direction if you want to shorten. You need to make sure if your model is following the same adjustment patterns.

You can also try by adjusting the neck bow of your guitar. This is usually done if the problem is only a minor one and almost all strings have the same tones. This is only a minor adjustment compared to that of adjusting the action. However, there are times that both ways can be employed for better tuning.

If both methods will not work, there are others that you can use. However these are methods that are not really recommended to be used by beginners in the craft. One method that is popular is that of moving the saddle. This will need certain woodwork and can best be done by experts in such.

You can also go for the option of shimming at the nut. Most of the time this is employed when only one string has a problem. A hard material is added to the fretboard at the nut in this method. It is considered to be really effective but it also needs to be done by someone expert in the work.

If such methods still do not work, have your instrument inspected by someone who is a professional in making, adjusting, and maintaining guitars. Doing such fix by yourself can be risky since you might inflict considerable damage to the instrument itself if you continue. In such situations, experts will be your best option when fixing intonation for your guitars.




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