Members Rock Martyr Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Hey folks. I was checking the intonation on my bass today and noticed that while the open strings matched the 12th fret harmonic pretty accurately...the actual 12th fret note was a few cents sharp. I proceeded to play each note up the fretboard on each string. Same thing. All sharp. When played open they were perfectly in tune... Is there more to setting the intonation? Or is it something I'm going to have to live with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GRANKOR Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 you'll need a strobe tuner to do an accurate job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bholder Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Find your intonation adjustment screws and move the saddles back, away from the nut. Just tweak one string a half turn at a time or so, until you get the general idea of how much travel is required, use it as a guide to figure out how far to turn the other strings before zeroing in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rock Martyr Posted February 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 A Peterson strobe tuner would be nice, yes. The 12th fret harmonic is dead on with the open string. That is pretty much all you can do for setting the intonation isn't it? Matching the open string with the 12th fret harmonic? Thanks for the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveyDevey Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Your open string will always be perfectly matched to the harmonic. That's the nature of the idea of having a harmonic. Your intonation is off because the actual length of the string does not match up with the frets exactly. To change this, you adjust the saddles' positions. If your tone at the 12th fret is sharper than your harmonic, you need to move the saddle... away from the neck. I think. It usually takes me some trial and error to get this right, because it usually is the opposite of my first reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rock Martyr Posted February 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 "Your open string will always be perfectly matched to the harmonic. That's the nature of the idea of having a harmonic." If you were to lengthen each string by one inch at the saddles the 12th fret harmonic wouldn't be a 12th fret harmonic anymore. You'd find the harmonic in a different location. Probably around the 13th fret. The 12th fret is supposedly the exact middle of the string. The distance from the nut to the 12th fret should ideally be the same length from the 12th fret to the bridge saddles...twice that length is the scale of the bass. The 12th fret harmonic will only match the open string if it is located in a place exactly one half the length of the string. An open string will always have harmonics...yes; but not at the desired fret (5th, 7th, 12th) if your intonation is way out of whack... Right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveyDevey Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 "Your open string will always be perfectly matched to the harmonic. That's the nature of the idea of having a harmonic."If you were to lengthen each string by one inch at the saddles the 12th fret harmonic wouldn't be a 12th fret harmonic anymore. You'd find the harmonic in a different location. Probably around the 13th fret. The 12th fret is supposedly the exact middle of the string. The distance from the nut to the 12th fret should ideally be the same length from the 12th fret to the bridge saddles...twice that length is the scale of the bass. The 12th fret harmonic will only match the open string if it is located in a place exactly one half the length of the string. Right?Yes. The 12th fret harmonic is the first octave. The 12th fret should match this, and that's the whole reason to adjust your intonation.If you were to lengthen the whole string length by moving the saddle away, it would still be considered the 12th fret harmonic, because the idea is that it should be at the 12th fret.The basic idea is to adjust the saddle so that the harmonic is the same tone as the actual fretted note. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rock Martyr Posted February 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 I understand you now. Cheers for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveyDevey Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Sweet. No problem at all. Also, the note about the strobe tuner is moot. I really don't think they're worth the price difference. A normal tuner will get you close enough that you won't be able to hear a difference. You will be able to hear a discrepency between the sound of an open D string and the 5th fret of an A, just because of the tonal differences of the strings. You can also modify the tone of a note by pressing slightly harder, or bending the string a bit. So, to summarize, it's my belief that a normal tuner will get you close enough that you can't hear the difference between it and the strobe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NaturalBornBoy Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Hey folks.I was checking the intonation on my bass today and noticed that while the open strings matched the 12th fret harmonic pretty accurately...the actual 12th fret note was a few cents sharp. Shouldn't you adjust your intonation based on the 12th fret harmonic and the 12th fret fretted note ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anesthesia Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Shouldn't you adjust your intonation based on the 12th fret harmonic and the 12th fret fretted note ? That is how I do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members georgestrings Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Sweet. No problem at all. Also, the note about the strobe tuner is moot. I really don't think they're worth the price difference. A normal tuner will get you close enough that you won't be able to hear a difference. You will be able to hear a discrepency between the sound of an open D string and the 5th fret of an A, just because of the tonal differences of the strings. You can also modify the tone of a note by pressing slightly harder, or bending the string a bit. So, to summarize, it's my belief that a normal tuner will get you close enough that you can't hear the difference between it and the strobe. I agree... - georgestrings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bluescout Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 I match the open note and fretted 12th fret because that's what you play. You put a little more tension on the string when you fret it, pulling it a touch sharp. I don't tune to harmonics because I don't play them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GRANKOR Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 harmonics are more 'in tune' than open notes to tune to for me, you aren't getting a load of other ones to try and compete with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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