guitar tonation problem

[T714]

just rub the fretboard with steel wool. It will solve your problem. Scrub hard. Use paint thinner for lubrication.

your sarcasm aside, the fretboard is actually the next step to tackle if the saddle can't be corrected...leveling the fretboard and leveling the frets are the next couple of steps, but I highly doubt these are the source of his problems. An uneven fretboard and/or a high fret can also lead to issues with intonation, though not as common (buzzing is the bigger issue)

[Trippin Hillbilly]

So....I think I have this problem on my HD-35.
I always thought my low E never sounded quite right.
If I play it open it's in tune, if I fret the 12th it's about 16cent off.
Intonation problem?

I've taken this guitar to a guitar tech in town a few times now for various things. He was the guitar tech for led zeppelin apparently.
He's an ass and never seems really interested. I'm gonna have to find a luthier or something. ugh

[T714]

So....I think I have this problem on my HD-35.
I always thought my low E never sounded quite right.
If I play it open it's in tune, if I fret the 12th it's about 16cent off.
Intonation problem?

I've taken this guitar to a guitar tech in town a few times now for various things. He was the guitar tech for led zeppelin apparently.
He's an ass and never seems really interested. I'm gonna have to find a luthier or something. ugh

sharp or flat?

[Trippin Hillbilly]

So....I think I have this problem on my HD-35.
I always thought my low E never sounded quite right.
If I play it open it's in tune, if I fret the 12th it's about 16cent off.
Intonation problem?

I've taken this guitar to a guitar tech in town a few times now for various things. He was the guitar tech for led zeppelin apparently.
He's an ass and never seems really interested. I'm gonna have to find a luthier or something. ugh

sharp or flat?

Sharp

[T714]

So....I think I have this problem on my HD-35.
I always thought my low E never sounded quite right.
If I play it open it's in tune, if I fret the 12th it's about 16cent off.
Intonation problem?

I've taken this guitar to a guitar tech in town a few times now for various things. He was the guitar tech for led zeppelin apparently.
He's an ass and never seems really interested. I'm gonna have to find a luthier or something. ugh

sharp or flat?

Sharp

OK, good news and bad news.

Good news: Martins are infamous (and notice I didn't say "notorious") for having sharp low E strings. This was a MAJOR problem with guitars from the 1970's. Anyways...your good news: Since the note is sharp, it is possible to have a custom compensated saddle (we call this a serpentine saddle) made to adjust your intonation. What will happen is that the luthier/tech doing the work will sand the compensator back toward the bridge. This will change the string length, so to speak, and therefore hopefully align it back to normal.

Bad news: If this doesn't work, then other adjustments can be made to the nut, the neck relief and the frets/fingerboard (we call this a leveling). If all else fails, your saddle slot will have to be filled with ebony (or ebony dust) and routed/cut at a different angle. By changing the location of the saddle (we're talking 1/8" at the most), the compensation and therefore will be corrected.

Hopefully this makes sense. Intonation is crucial to a guitar. Let me ask you, when your tuner says your low E is in tune, does it sound off when fretting notes? Where on the fretboard is it off? Are any other strings affected? Do you have to "fiddle" with tuning a lot on the Low E string to make your guitar sound in tune? Do some chords sound right and others don't? Don't worry, you don't have to answer all of those questions, but if you are answering "yes" to nearly all of them, you have to get your guitar check out.

As you can see, there's lots of stuff going on. When in doubt, take it to a good luthier and they can help you. Give me your location and I can help you find someone real good.

[Trippin Hillbilly]

So....I think I have this problem on my HD-35.
I always thought my low E never sounded quite right.
If I play it open it's in tune, if I fret the 12th it's about 16cent off.
Intonation problem?

I've taken this guitar to a guitar tech in town a few times now for various things. He was the guitar tech for led zeppelin apparently.
He's an ass and never seems really interested. I'm gonna have to find a luthier or something. ugh

sharp or flat?

Sharp

OK, good news and bad news.

Good news: Martins are infamous (and notice I didn't say "notorious") for having sharp low E strings. This was a MAJOR problem with guitars from the 1970's. Anyways...your good news: Since the note is sharp, it is possible to have a custom compensated saddle (we call this a serpentine saddle) made to adjust your intonation. What will happen is that the luthier/tech doing the work will sand the compensator back toward the bridge. This will change the string length, so to speak, and therefore hopefully align it back to normal.

Bad news: If this doesn't work, then other adjustments can be made to the nut, the neck relief and the frets/fingerboard (we call this a leveling). If all else fails, your saddle slot will have to be filled with ebony (or ebony dust) and routed/cut at a different angle. By changing the location of the saddle (we're talking 1/8" at the most), the compensation and therefore will be corrected.

Hopefully this makes sense. Intonation is crucial to a guitar. Let me ask you, when your tuner says your low E is in tune, does it sound off when fretting notes? Where on the fretboard is it off? Are any other strings affected? Do you have to "fiddle" with tuning a lot on the Low E string to make your guitar sound in tune? Do some chords sound right and others don't? Don't worry, you don't have to answer all of those questions, but if you are answering "yes" to nearly all of them, you have to get your guitar check out.

As you can see, there's lots of stuff going on. When in doubt, take it to a good luthier and they can help you. Give me your location and I can help you find someone real good.

Cool, thank you. I'll have it checked out.
I answered yes to nearly all of them. I especially need to fiddle alot to get the low E in tune. The other strings seem ok though.
I live in London, UK though. Probably unlikely that you know of any luthiers here but if you do, I'd appreciate the help.

[sunglassesatnight]

I need to take my shit in for this. It's getting pretty bad.

[dmbiamthecaptainnow]

I have this same damn problem TWICE!! I took it to the shop like 2 months ago, and it was fine for a while, but now its off again. Will they be able to fix it for good? Is it normal to happen twice and just on the high E?