Intonation Question

[thrash907]

Hello!

I've been playing for a little over 5 months and am slowly getting more familiar with my guitar setup.

Yesterday was the first time I made any changes to the intonation since buying new and I noticed the saddles aren’t stepped like I commonly see; specifically, A is slightly above D. I’m just curious if this is ok, or if it’s indicative of another issue with my setup.

Gear and setup steps:

• Guitar: PRS S2 McCarty 594 Thinline
  • PRS vintage locking tuners
  • Strings: 10-46 D’Addario NYXL
• Setup steps
  • Truss - no change from new, seems ok per PRS PTC directions
  • String change - followed MannMade locking tuner instructions, a little super lube on nut/saddles, and stretch/tune
  • Action height at 12th fret - low E at 0.06”, high E at 0.05”
  • Pickup height - bass side at 3/32”, treble side at 5/64”

I used a Boss TU-3 and PolyTune Clip-on. Weird thing is that when fretted at the 12th fret, the clip-on was showing low E sharp when the TU-3 was in tune (all other strings were spot on). That being said, it sounds good to my untrained ears going off the TU-3.

Maybe I’m overthinking things, but I figured asking for feedback couldn’t hurt.

Pics of bridge/saddle and nut/tuners below.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[Wakester]

When the guitar was set up, that is where the saddles ended up for that particular string. If the intonation is good with the stings that you have on there, do not change the saddle. When you change the strings, re-check intonation after stretching and tuning to pitch. Adjust as necessary.

 

[CandidPicker]

Welcome, thrash...

When checking the intonation and pitch of the open string and the 12th fret harmonic, the 12th fret is sharp, lengthen (read: tighten the saddle set screw associated with the string in question by turning it clockwise) so that the saddle travels farther away from the pickups. Conversely, if the 12th fret harmonic is flat, shorten, (read: turn the set screw counterclockwise) so the the saddle travels closer to the pickups.

A third to a half turn will be more than sufficient. Start with only a quarter turn, and then retune the string, and check the open string and 12th fret harmonic again.

CAVEAT: If the 12th fret harmonic is flat, you can simply loosen the set screw without detuning the string. It's not as easy when the harmonic is sharp. Smarter to loosen the string then adjust the set screw, then retune the string to pitch, and check open/12th fret harmonic again.

 

[Rider1260]

Nothing wrong with the look of your set up , the TU-3 is OK to do intonation if you get into it more something better like a Peterson Strobe tuner is more accurate.
I for one would not trust a clamp on tuner to do guitar set up

 

[thrash907]

Thanks for the tips/feedback! Sounds like I’m good to go and I’ll look into getting a Peterson tuner in the future.

 

[PRSWILL]

This is a helpful post - so many players- especially new ones have no idea how to intonate their instruments!