do action and intonation affect harmonics?

[dms1966]

i posted a q about 17th fret harmonics recently and didnt get any replies, so thought i would try again. im not criticizing my ce24 (i love it) and dont want my post caught up in the 'dead spot' which seems to be 'stirring the pot' with a few. all i want to know is might my lack of harmonic on the 17th fret be related to intonation or action? if so i will try to correct that way.

 

[dogrocketp]

if the guitar is not set up properly, intonation and harmonics will ALWAYS be thrown out. When I get an instrument, I set it up. If I'm not happy with what I did, it's off to my local luthier buddy to have my mistakes fixed. Whatever you do, don't turn the trem screws without slacking the strings and releasing the springs. There's no quicker way to ruin a tremolo.

 

[jak3af3r]

Action won't matter because the string is suspended above the fretboard. You'll get the same harmonics is it's .05" or 5" off the fretboard. Intonation will move the harmonic nodes relative to the frets so they might not be right on top of the fret.

The 17th fret harmonic isn't particularly strong and is the same as the one just past the second fret.

 

[Maxime Bousquet]

Hi! as said above, the action does not matter, I checked the intonation, does your harmonic sound good elsewhere !? are your pickups well tuned too? too close it can hurt, but again more likely it is the intonation !

 

[Serious Poo]

Action won't matter because the string is suspended above the fretboard. You'll get the same harmonics is it's .05" or 5" off the fretboard. Intonation will move the harmonic nodes relative to the frets so they might not be right on top of the fret.

The 17th fret harmonic isn't particularly strong and is the same as the one just past the second fret.

The 17th fret harmonic is an octave higher than the 5th fret harmonic, which is an octave higher than the 12th fret harmonic, which is an octave higher than the open string. The 2nd fret harmonic is the note a full step above the open string, only 2 or 3 octaves higher (i.e., F# on the open E string). Hope that helps.

OP, intonation really doesn't matter. String height doesn't matter. Pickup height doesn't matter. About all that mattes is the way you pick and touch the string. Sometimes you have to pick them quite hard and have a heavy touch in order to get the harmonic to pop. If anything, you might want to try different strings but even that's a stretch.

17th fret harmonics are simply very difficult to play, even at higher gain settings. I don't even bother with them, and I play with harmonics a lot.

 

[Maxime Bousquet]

i posted a q about 17th fret harmonics recently and didnt get any replies, so thought i would try again. im not criticizing my ce24 (i love it) and dont want my post caught up in the 'dead spot' which seems to be 'stirring the pot' with a few. all i want to know is might my lack of harmonic on the 17th fret be related to intonation or action? if so i will try to correct that way.

thing to notice ... on all my guitars the harmonic at the 17th is very .. very weak .. it comes back on the 19th ..

 

[veinbuster]

The 17th fret harmonic is an octave higher than the 5th fret harmonic, which is an octave higher than the open string. The 2nd fret harmonic is the note a full step above the open string, only 2 or 3 octaves higher (i.e., F# on the open E string). Hope that helps.

Not quite. 12th fret harmonic is 1 octave above the open tone. 5th fret is 2 octaves above the open note.

 

[swede71]

Do you have other guitars where it’s easy to pluck the 17th fret harmonics?

 

[Serious Poo]

Not quite. 12th fret harmonic is 1 octave above the open tone. 5th fret is 2 octaves above the open note.

Ah, missed that. Edited my post.

 

[jak3af3r]

The 2nd fret harmonic is the note a full step above the open string, only 2 or 3 octaves higher (i.e., F# on the open E string).
/QUOTE]

I didn't mean right on the 2nd fret. That's why I made the clarification of "just beyond" the second fret. In between the 2nd and 3rd fret is 3 octaves above the fundamental.