Guitar Stuff » guitar-maintenance

What is Intonation on the Guitar?

Matt — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 13:47:26 +0000

In a previous post I said I was taking my guitar into the shop to have the intonation (among other things) set. So what is this thing called intonation?

Intonation refers to the notes on the guitar being in tune all the way from open to the high end of the fretboard. If a guitar’s intonation is set properly every E note played on the fretboard will have the proper pitch. If the intonation is off, usually the notes at the nut end of the fretboard will be correct, but they will slowly become sharp or flat the further you move up the fretboard.

A manner of producing or uttering tones, especially with regard to accuracy of pitch.

Source: Dictionary.com

For the average person (like me) it may not be out enough to notice while playing. However, if it is out, once you get it set properly you will notice the difference for sure.

Checking the intonation

The intonation is pretty easy to check, especially if you own an electric tuner. First tune the strings to the proper pitch. After all of the strings are tuned, play the open note on the E string, and then right after play the E note on the 12th fret of the same string. If the tuner shows the right pitch then that strings intonation is set properly. However, if the tuner shows a change in pitch whether it he sharp or flat, the intonation is out. This process can be done on each string to determine if the intonation is out.

Setting the Intonation

If you find that your intonation is out, take your guitar to a shop to have them set it. It shouldn’t cost you too much to have it done. It is best to have a professional do this as you can make the tone worse if you try to do it yourself and don’t succeed.

What is Action on the Guitar?

Matt — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:04:54 +0000

The very first guitar I had was this small acoustic that was obviously supposed to have nylon strings on it. At first I did not know about nylon strings, but later realized that because of the style of bridge, it should have had them. Anyway, my best friend and I called the guitar “The Killer”. We called it this for two reasons. Reason 1, it was a nylon string guitar that had steel strings on it so the action was really bad and it would kill your fingers if you played for too long. The second reason was because my best friend’s mom bought it from a guy who she later found out from the local newspaper was convicted of murder. The name was suiting. There was an upside to playing it though, I developed some pretty wicked calices.

I basically just explained exactly what action is with that little story. Action refers to how easy a guitar’s strings are to fret. If a guitar’s strings are hard to fret and it kills your hand to play you would say the guitar has bad action. If the opposite is true and the guitar is easily fretted and is responsive to the touch it would be said the guitar has good action.

Sometimes action is referred to as high or low action. In this case it has to do with how far the strings are from the fingerboard.

If the strings are high, and required to be pushed down far to fret them, the guitar has high action. Guitarists who are used to playing electric guitars or acoustics with low action might classify high action as bad action. Generally though, action is a personal preference. A higher action will give a brighter clearer tone and is generally better for rhythm guitar.

Low action is when the strings are closer to the fingerboard. Generally this would be classified as good action, but again its a personal preference. Lower action’s tone isn’t as bright, but will make the guitar much easier to play for someone who does a lot of lead and technical playing. Sometimes a negative side effect of low action is fretbuzz. This happens when vibrating strings actually touch the frets and cause a buzzing sound.

When you are choosing a guitar or getting your guitar setup you want action that is a common ground between ease of playability and quality of sound. If you have a guitar and you find it hurts your fingers to play because you have to press the strings down too far, consider taking your guitar into a shop to have the action adjusted.

Fret Buzz Information at Guitar Daily

Matt — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 19:31:13 +0000

Serg has posted some great information about fret buzz on his site Guitar Daily. He goes into perfect detail on the causes of fret buzz and how they can be rectified.

To sum up his posts causes could be:

Old strings
New strings that have not settled
Action is too low
Bent or warped neck
Inconsistent fret heights

If you are experiencing buzzing on your frets I suggest you head over and read his posts.
Top Reasons For Guitar Fret buzz
Fret Buzz – Guitar Action
Fret buzz – low and high frets
and Fret Buzz: Neck Relief, Bow And Back Bow at Guitar Daily.

Guitar Books

Matt — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 16:06:57 +0000

I found a great post titled Guitar Reading List v3 and Instructional DVDs over at Striking the Right Chord, If You Can Find It.

I haven’t had the chance to read all of the books on his list, but nevertheless, it is a great list. One book I must agree on is his number one pick, The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer.

Bob Sutor, the blog’s author says:

The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer
This is the master bible: a lot of information about guitars and music theory and even information on how to fix things when they break.

I like the book because it has a lot of everything. It has guitar history, construction, and maintenance information as well as chords, scales, and technique lessons ranging from beginner to advanced.

Bob has made a great comprehensive list and I will be checking out a few of his suggestions myself.

Guitar Strings – How and What to Buy

Matt — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 17:42:40 +0000

As with many things pertaining to guitar, the type and size of strings are all preference. At most guitar stores there will be a selection ranging from $5 strings up to maybe $35 for premium strings. Strings come in all sorts of different thicknesses and are made from different metals, so how do you choose what type is right for you?

Type of Guitar

The type of strings you are going to get first depends on what type of guitar you have. You will need a different type of strings if you have an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, a classical nylon string guitar, or a 12 string guitar. There is usually a large selection of strings for each type, depending on what store you go to.

String Gauge or Thickness

Strings come in a range of standard and custom gauges (or thicknesses). Usually they range from extra light, to light, to medium, to heavy, and in some cases extra heavy. The gauge of strings you choose depends on a few things. The first is the strength of your fingers. A heavy gauge string will be much harder to fret and bend than a light gauge string. If you have been playing guitar regularly and it only takes a little bit of playing to hurt your fingers, you might need a lower gauge string. The another difference between a heavy and light string is sound. A heavy string will have a much sharper bright tone where a light string will be softer. The type of string you settle on may have more to do with your musical preference than the strength of your fingers. Stevie Ray Vaughn used heavy strings which is what gave his music that unique sharp clear tone. Lighter strings are more common among metal players because it gives them an easier instrument to play when playing shredding solos.

The setup of your guitar

When a guitar comes out of the factory it is setup to use the stock strings. Usually, depending on the manufacturer, the strings will be a medium gauge. If you decide you want to start using lighter or heavier gauge strings, you will eventually have to take your guitar in to have it setup for that gauge. Because the tension on the neck is set to hold medium strings, if you go to a lower gauge or a higher gauge the pull of the strings can change the straightness of the neck. The best way to do it is find the strings you like sound and feel wise, play them on your guitar for a few months, and then take your guitar into your local shop to have them set the intonation and bridge height. This will give you the best possible action and sound with your strings. The only exception I would say is if you are going to go from a heavy string to a light or vice versa you might want to get a shop to do some initial adjustments first and take it back in a few months for some fine tuning. The last thing you want is a bowed neck on your guitar.

String Materials

Acoustic, electric, and classical guitar strings all use different materials. The different materials effect the tension, the tone, and the feel of the strings.

Acoustic Strings
Acoustic strings are typically made from bronze wound steel. This type of string is very bright and clear when new, but will quickly loose its tone the more they are played. Bronze strings are the most common for acoustic guitars. Other options for acoustic guitars are phosphor bronze strings. This type of string has a warmer tone which lasts far longer as opposed to a bright tone that fades over time. A third option is also silk & steel strings. This type of string has a nylon coated core and is wrapped in silver plated brass. It will typically be the most expensive of strings, but will have a much lighter nylon like sound and will last longer.

Electric Strings
The most common type of electric guitar strings are nickel plated strings. Other options include pure nickel strings, where the wire wrap around the string is pure nickel as opposed to nickel plated. These strings will produce a softer tone and will have less output on the electric guitar.

Classical Guitar Strings
Classical guitars use nylon strings and should never have steel strings put on them. The nylon name refers to the core material. The three low strings will have a silver plated copper wound around them to add mass to the string, but the core is still nylon. Like steel strings should never be used on a classical, nylon strings should never be used on a steel string acoustic. The nylon strings do not provide enough tension for the neck of a steel string guitar and will cause it to bow.

For the health of your guitar it’s not a great idea to be constantly switching from light to heavy to medium strings every time you change. Because of what I said above with the tension on the neck, the constant change of pull on the neck could cause damage to your guitar. Once you decide on a set of strings you should stick with that set. The only exception is if you find a gauge you like that another company offers, you should be able to use them without affecting the setup of your guitar.

Final notes

Feel free to ask the guitar tech at the store any questions you have about the strings or your guitar. Remember the following points when choosing strings:

Whether your guitar requires acoustic bronze, electric nickel, or classical nylon strings
What gauge or thickness strings you want (sound/action tradeoff)
How much you are willing to pay – ($10 to $20 = good quality strings)
The cost of having your guitar re-setup if you are changing gauges

Some strings are better than others depending on what materials they are made with. Some strings are made to last longer and some are made with sound and performance in mind. In the end it all comes down to personal preference.

Getting my Les Paul Setup Part 3 (Finale)

Matt — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 14:23:48 +0000

So when I dropped my guitar off on Tuesday the tech said he would have it for me by the end of the week. I hadn’t heard anything (on my cell) on Friday and I was getting a little upset that I would be guitarless for the weekend. However, when I got home he had left a message on my answering machine. I ate dinner with my girlfriend and then we went to pick it up.

The repairs were $107.99 CAD + %7 taxes. This was a little bit steeper than I had expected. I didn’t think it was going to take him that long to do the repairs. However, it turns out that I really did a bad job installing the EMG pickups that I bought last Christmas (a year ago), so he had to reinstall them as well.

When I got the guitar home and plugged it in it all made sense and it was 200% worth it. I would have paid twice as much. I mean it sounds better than when I bought it new. I looked down the neck, and it’s perfectly straight. Now I can see what he saw when he looked at it for that half second when I took it in.

The strings stay in tune all the way up the fretboard. I checked by plucking each string open, and then plucking them while they were fretted on the 12th fret. The pitches sound the same. I can tell the bridge was adjusted because the high strings are lower and the base strings are a bit higher. Also the saddles have been moved. The pickups are working great as well. The tone is much clearer and I get less noise at high volumes. I think he set the height of the pickups as well because the sustain is about 100 times better.

I’m really happy I took it in. It was totally worth it and I’ll probably have it looked at once a year. The next time it won’t be expensive because my pickups are all setup mint now. It’ll be cheaper to have the bridge/intonation set if needed.

Getting my Les Paul Setup Part 2

Matt — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 15:23:24 +0000

I took my guitar into Guitar Works today for a setup. Here’s what I asked the tech to look at:

The Neck
Bridge height
Intonation
My Pickups

First off, I stared down the neck of my guitar for a good 5 minutes one day trying to tell if it was bowed and I couldn’t tell. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for though. When I took it into the shop the guy took all of 5 seconds looking at it to tell it was off. My girlfriend thinks he was playing on my ignorance to squeeze some money out of me, but he was obviously not short on business. So I don’t think that was the case.

I have Zakk Wylde EMG pickups in my guitar and I installed them myself. At the time I purchased them I didn’t have the funds to pay for them and have them installed professionally, so I did it myself. Now that I can afford it I have asked him to make sure I installed them properly. I have a feeling I didn’t do a very good job of installing them.

Finally, since I know the bridge adjustment went out when I installed my pickups, I have asked him to check the bridge height and set the intonation.

He told me he should have it done by the end of the week, so we’ll see how it goes.

Getting my Guitar Professionally Setup

Matt — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:22:34 +0000

I have been playing guitar for over 7 years now and I just bought my first guitar book. I have had tab books in the past, but never a book about guitars and how to play them.

The book has a section on guitar maintenance and repair which discusses topics like action and intonation. Although I have heard of these things before, when going through the steps to check them on my guitar I found it was a bit out. The book says some guitar shops will setup a guitar before it is sold, but if it is sold without being setup, the factory doesn’t always do a great job of it.

So I have decided to take my guitar in to have new strings put on, and have the intonation, bridge, and truss rod setup.

I’ll post back with how it goes.