Guitar Intonation
Setting your guitars intonation can be a little tricky, but I will try and give you some basic guidelines. Some guitars will need the intonation set more frequently depending on the climate you live in. Some of my better guitars, with binding around the body and neck , only need changed a couple times a year. I usually set the intonation in the winter and summer. Due to factors like, humidity, cold and hot climates, the neck will shift and cause the neck to bow and the guitar stings will become to high or low on the neck. If they become to low you will get a buzz because the strings are hitting guitar frets. If the strings sit high on the neck your guitar will go sharp in the highest area on the neck and be out of tune plus it is more difficult to play.
Setting the Intonation: You will need to turn your truss rod to compensate for the bow in the neck. Don't get drastic, just use quarter turns. The neck should not be 100 percent straight and you should try to have a little bow any where between the fifth and 12th fret. Once you have the neck setup you will need to adjust your saddles and fine tune the instrument. Some guitar tech's refer to this as compensation and it is really an interesting thought. You really need to set the saddles and compensation for the type of guitar playing you do. If you attack the strings hard or soft, it might need some slight adjustment. A guitar player that plays hard and really attacks the strings might sound a little sharp if the guitar intonation is set to a very soft picking guitar player. So, with that in mind, you want to fret a string at the 12th fret and move the saddle adjustment screw until the guitar shows in tune on your guitar tuner. Note: a professional tech might also use a critical strobe tuner which really sets the intonation very accurate. Good luck and happy intonation tuning.
Guitar Intonation Sharp fix: If your guitar intonation is sharp (to high) when you fret the string at the 12th fret, your saddle or bridge is to close and you need to make the string longer. (move the bridge away from the fretboard).
Guitar Intonation Flat fix: If your guitar intonation is flat (to low) when you fret the string at the 12th fret, your saddle or bridge is to far and you need to make the string shorter. Bring the saddle closer toward the neck.
