Hi gang -Got handed ,wait for it ,a beginners Japanese Sakura acoustic with brutal action. No trust rod just metal reinforcement . It has floating bridge and gluded in saddle. Had a broken nut which I replaced which may have just a touch of lowering left on all strings except high -E whch is just about a pick thickness above first fret. No room to lower saddle as light guage brass strings arejust clearing the frets. Noticed some tiny marks on both ends of bridge and wonder if they could be factory intonation marks or someones poor guess for this reason. If I use exact measurements formula of nut to twelvth fret ,then middle of12th fret plus 1/8" to center of saddle between Dand G strings this happens. This setting forces me to move bridge another 5/8 + inches foreward creating even higher action.Even I find things uncomfortable. Should I recommend they get a set of extra light guage strings or even nylon for this beginner won't put it down and let it collect dust? There is a angle to these bridge marks . Anyone know what angle should be on the saddleto be right. Iwas thinking of close matching my Guild slot and it would be close right? -nanccinut
Correct Intonation
- Thread starter nanccinut
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Nanc, that all sounds a little weird. If you are having to shorten the 12th to bridge length that much the action must be really high. What is the gap between the underneath of any string and the 12th fret? Should be about 3/32"(very rough) on the low E. Does the 12th fret harmonic match the note at the 12th? Is the truss rod hidden inside like Martin? Bridge would be at an angle but without seeing this guitar it really is difficult to give a constructive answer.
Sounds to me like the neck has a serious up-bow. With no truss rod to adjust there are one or two things that can be done. A compression refret to resist the strings more and this combined with gentle heating and straightening of the neck under pressure to back bow the neck. This of course is all subject to inspection. Unless this guitar is worth a lot of money(pre-war Martin!!) then the cost of such work would not be worth it and you may as well put the money to a new/s/h GAD.
Best of luck, Steve.
Sounds to me like the neck has a serious up-bow. With no truss rod to adjust there are one or two things that can be done. A compression refret to resist the strings more and this combined with gentle heating and straightening of the neck under pressure to back bow the neck. This of course is all subject to inspection. Unless this guitar is worth a lot of money(pre-war Martin!!) then the cost of such work would not be worth it and you may as well put the money to a new/s/h GAD.
Best of luck, Steve.
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Yes he also had it inspected by a music shop and said not adjustment. Sure not worth putting money into. When Iput a straight edge down down center when strings were off it had a slight up bow at both ends seeing a bit of gap in the uppermiddle area of board.Never pulled out my guages but it was just plain brutal but for me just playable giving it the benefit of the doubt.Bar chords were brutal.Have seen video of twelth string harmonics but my ear isn't the greatest for picking it up. Can my so-so meter with cent marks tell me what I need to know?Has a red flatand sharp light and green 440 dead on green light with reading needle.Its a $50.00 Yamaha meter! On the good side it was holding tune after playing hard for ten minutes shortly after string change-nanccinut
Yes a harmonic will register on your tuner and it will show how different if any the fretted note is from the harmonic. Light gauge strings may help but I think that maybe this guitar will always be hard to play without surgery.