An intonation question

[_john]

I haven't been here in awhile so lemme start with sayin hi.....hello howav ya been?

I got a problem.

A long time ago i was advocating this simon and patrick acoustic that i got for only $300 bucks ! and how it sounded great. Well now it's crap, you can't tune the thing at all. I tune it, but the chords just don't sound right. Right away i know........it's crap. So i bought a taylor. 110e to be exact. Not the flagship model but it plays pretty good if i don't say so myself.

Here the thing though. I want to trade the simon and patrick in for a Boss rc-20 loop and i wanna get the most for the simon. Any tips on the intonation or what could be wrong??? I want it to sound mint when i bring it in.

[photoweborama]

What kind of bridge does it have on it? That's the real question..

[_john]

hey photo what's been goin on? My bridge is a compensated saddle.
The only thing I've done is change the strings.

[photoweborama]

Same old thing going on.. I have a lot of posts here... and no real life.

So can you actually move the bridge on that acoustic?

[_john]

No you can't move the saddle.

[curtisstetka]

How chewed up are the strings? It may just need a fresh set.

Really, for a $300 guitar that you're getting rid of, how much time and effort do you want to put into it? What do you realistically expect to get back out of it? Just asking, that's all.

[photoweborama]

if you can't move the bridge, there is not much you can do.. I've found that if the top starts to bow a bit, the intonation goes off, and there is not much you can do.

[curtisstetka]

Personally I don't think it would be worth the money and effort but if he wants to address the intonation problems, I heartily endorse the Earvana nut system (www.earvana.com) which I have put on a number of my own instruments and also for a few friends. It has in each case made an improvement in the intonation.

My brother in law has an Ibanez Artstar semi-hollow electric that was (to my ears) unplayable. I put an Earvana nut on there and it transformed the guitar. You could actually play below the 7th fret and be in tune. Remarkable stuff.

But, as I said, does this instrument warrant such a thing, especially when it's already halfway out the door? 'sup to John to make that determination.

[_john]

I just changed the strings and the guitar is only a few months old-out of warranty though. I didn't want to spend anything on fixing it i just was hoping to put a band-aid on the problem so I could get the most for it. But basically I paid 300 for it and if got 175-200 for it on a trade in i would be happy.

[Wilko]

To adjust the intonation of an acoustic, you need to know the basics of how to achieve a good tune.
You then set out to shape the bone saddle to re "compensate" it. Adjustments are made to string length and action to get the right balance. Lowering action lowers pitch at the twelth fret as does lengthening the string.
String is lengthened by shaping the saddle so the bevel "leans" toward the bridge.
It's not rocket science. It's some trial and error, and know that there are always compromises that need to be made. If the guitar played in tune before you changed the strings, it should play in tune now. Unless you changed string guage or didn't string it well.
The fact that you asked the question in the first place tells me that you should probably take it to a trusted luthier to get it set up properly.

[Constellation80]

try straightining the neck out with the truss rod, and put some lighter/heavyer strings on it. If the string or bridge height changes so does the intonation a lil bit. So when you changed strings on it before you might have knocked things out

[Don]

Is the saddle in the correct orientation?

If a compensated acoustic saddle fell out during a string change and was re-installed backwards it would really mess up the guitar's intonation!

[_john]

It did fall out out during the string change but i'm almost positive i put it back in right because the string indentations are all different.