se zach myers intonation help

[dtray187]

Hey guys I need some advice getting the intonation right on my new zm. I have a marsden se and and se Eg and I have adjusted them just fine.
On the ZM, it was fretting sharp by about 18 cents at every string on the 12th fret out of the box. I moved all the bridge pieces down to the bottom, no more room to take them any further and now they are all still sharp by about 10cents at the 12th fret with the exception of the high E, it is right on.

Any advice?

I already put some new strings on

 

[Danerada]

Can the bridge itself be moved back any? I don't know man. I usually set the intonation on my own guitars, but when I run into something like this I take it to a pro.

 

[dtray187]

Sorry but its a hardtail, it only moved high and low for action. Not sure if lowering it a bit would help or not. I may have to take it in.

 

[Bluesboy998]

Move the bridge pieces all to the center straight across adjust bridge hight to were youike the action keep in tune.then adjust individual bridge pieces forward and back till you get close.now on back of bridge are two set screws you could adjust the bridge back and forth until you get intonation spot on. Ps you should define when adjusting set screws. It takes time but you will get it.remember if you change string gauge you will have to do all over again I hope this helps good luck.

 

[WEDGE]

I had this issue on a Les Paul once and the cure was to remove the saddle and put it back on backwards to get a little more room to adjust it. Not sure if this would help on a ZM.

 

[Bluesboy998]

I meant detune while adjusting set screws

 

[andy474x]

Can the bridge itself be moved back any? I don't know man. I usually set the intonation on my own guitars, but when I run into something like this I take it to a pro.

+1. Look on the back of the bridge, where it meets with the studs. There should be a hex screw on both sides. Loosen all your strings and turn the screws clockwise 2-3 of turns. That should get you in the ballpark, then fine tune each string individually.

 

[dtray187]

Thanks guys , its fixed! BTW, how close is close enough on intonation, 2-3 cents at the 12th fret?

 

[WEDGE]

Close is good, right on is better.....worth the time to dial it in tight.

 

[dtray187]

Ok sorry guys, but I need more help...... I though I was close, but again I have run out of space on the bridge pieces.
I did loosen the strings then, move all pieces to the middle and retune each string and start again.

The question I have is the 2 very small hex screws you guys are talking about on the bottom of the tailpiece. They don't seem to do anything at all... I can twist them and twist them and it seems nothing happens...
Thanks

 

[Egads]

The set screws on the back of the bridge set how far back the entire bridge sits on the posts. As you screw those in, they will eventually come into contact with the posts and start pushing the bridge back. With the strings loose, keep turning those set screws until they move the bridge back a little bit. Try to keep both sides even.

 

[Gnal]

The set screws on the back of the bridge set how far back the entire bridge sits on the posts. As you screw those in, they will eventually come into contact with the posts and start pushing the bridge back. With the strings loose, keep turning those set screws until they move the bridge back a little bit. Try to keep both sides even.

^^ What he said!

The two set-screws on the back of the adjustable stoptail will limit how close/deep to the post the tailpiece rests within the post slot. All of my adjustable wraptails have the base side slightly farther back then the treble side in addition to the normal saddle adjustments. You should be able to get the guitar spot on once you move the bridge back a bit.

P.S. the above should get you set without the need to flip any saddles... flipping a saddle is a PITA and I've only ever needed to do that when the whole bridge was already pushed back and trying to intonate to Bb with a .060 gauge string. Unless you are going that low flipping a saddle will not be necessary.

 

[dtray187]

Ok, Thanks I will try this over the weekend!

 

[kbprs]

Also, make sure your nut slots have been filed down at an angle towards the tuners. The slots should be partially filed parallel to the headstock, not parallel to the fretboard.

I didn't have this issue on a used SE Singlecut I have, but I've seen this on other guitars from the same Korean factory -- the nuts are preformed and the slots are left flat and unfiled (in Korea or MD). This means that the strings (especially the larger, wound strings) will resonate at an intonation point on the edge of the nut closest to the tuners, not the edge closest to the frets, which is where the spacing is calculated.

I had a specific recent example of this -- all fretted notes intonated sharp, and open vs fretted notes would never match. A quick filing fixed the intonation immediately, and the saddles could be left in their original sane positions. It might be worth a quick visit to the shop you bought the guitar from, or a local luthier.

Just one possibility. HIH!

 

[Scott Campbell]

Hey guys I need some advice getting the intonation right on my new zm. I have a marsden se and and se Eg and I have adjusted them just fine.
On the ZM, it was fretting sharp by about 18 cents at every string on the 12th fret out of the box. I moved all the bridge pieces down to the bottom, no more room to take them any further and now they are all still sharp by about 10cents at the 12th fret with the exception of the high E, it is right on.

Any advice?

I already put some new strings on

I was surprised also when mine was delivered (from a very good retailer that I have bought US-made PRS guitars from in the past) with the intonation way out of whack! I had to take another guitar to an excellent repair shop (Lay's in Akron, OH) so I took along the ZM. I had them do a "complete setup" which included fret leveling and polishing. The intonation is dead on now and to be honest it also just plays so much better. This was my first SE but I think the investment of a "pro" set up is worth the $$$. I'm suspect Maryland-made units gets a bit more going over which is why I've never had any issues with my other three guitars.

 

[Chris528]

Corey set mine up with a USA nut in Drop C with 12s. He did an absolutely amazing job and couldn't be happier with it.

 

[Deleted member 2284]

You probably know this already, but
1) ALWAYS slacken the string before adjusting anything - then tension can strip the threads and make indentations etc.
2) use a good quality tuner which is accurate and doesn't fly all over the place
3) always intonate with brand new strings on (not the ones that came from the dealer - even if it's a brand new guitar)