Im doing Intonation on my Guitar problem is open string in tune and 12 fret harmonic in tune but fretted nots?

Question

as i explained, the open note is ok, the 12 fret harmonic is ok and 12 fret played note is ok but fret the neck on any note and they tend to be way sharp are my saddles too far back or forward? is it my nut too high? can sombody give me advice or direct me to a website for this topic i could take gat to a shop but i really want to be able to do it myself.

Answer 1

First of all, ALWAYS TUNE THE HARMONICS WITH A FRESH SET OF BRAND NEW STRING....UNTOUCHED AND UNPLAYED.

This way, when the guitar has tuning problem, by replacing with a new set of string, the guitar will fall in perfect intonation.

Put your eye near the headstock and place one finger on 1st fret , and another on 12th fret. This is a perfect line and look towards the middle of the neck.

Their should be a 1/16' clearance minimum between string and fingerboard.

If the string touches, loosen the truss rod 1/4 counter-clockwise.. If the gap is too much, turn truss rod clcokwise.

Keep doing this 1/4 turn at a time, until you get that clearance. Now, check the harmonics and fret some chords. They should be in perfect harmony.

If not, now you can check the harmonic at the 12th fret compared to the same note when fretted. If it is sharp, move saddle back and if it is flat, move saddle forward.

The problem was the neck more than likely.

Answer 2

If your fretted 12th matches the 12th harmonic, but your other fretted notes are sharp, then the problem most likely lies in how you're fretting your notes. You need to be fretting your notes when you play only hard enough to make the sound, if you fret too hard the note goes sharp.

One way to minimize this is to press as hard on the 12th fret as when you're normally playing - you'll sharpen your intonation a bit, but it might help balance it out to some degree.

Otherwise, learn how to play a little softer. =)

Umm... you are matching the fretted 12th fret to the 12th fret harmonic, right? Because if this is correct then your neck is intonated, for all means and purposes.

Check how you fret....

Saul