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The procedure for setting your intonation is as follows:
1. Plug into your tuner and with the volume full up on the guitar, strike the harmonic at the 12th fret
and tune the string to the appropriate pitch.
2. Lightly press the string to the 12th fret and recheck the pitch at the tuner.
3. If the pitch of the harmonic and the pitch of the stopped string at the 12th fret agree, then your string
is properly intonated and no adjustment will be necessary. If the pitches disagree you'll need to make
an adjustment.
4. If the stopped or fretted note is sharper (higher) in pitch relative to the harmonic, you will need to
lengthen the active vibrating length of the string until the pitches agree. To do this you must turn the
saddle length adjustment screw, (located at the rear of the bridge-plate) clockwise, and move the
saddle back, until the harmonic note and the stopped note are registering as the same pitch. Make sure
you stop and stretch and retune the string often at the harmonic as the movement of the saddle will
have an effect on the pitch of the string during this process.
5. If the stopped or fretted note is flatter (lower) in pitch relative to the harmonic, you will need to
shorten the active vibrating length of the string until the pitches agree. To do this, you must turn the
saddle length adjustment screw, located at the rear of the bridge-plate, counter clockwise and move the
saddle forward until the harmonic note and the stopped note are registering as the same pitch. You may
need to press the saddle forward if downward pressure from the strings does not allow the saddle to
freely move.
6. When this procedure is complete simply retune your guitar and begin to play.
Always make sure that you use proper left hand fretting technique as too much downward pressure as
well as a claw type grip will pull your notes out of pitch and your guitar will sound out of tune to itself
even if properly intonated.
( The above Tech Tips taken from fender.com - visit Fender's website for more tips and faqs )
Our techs Note: These are the basic guidelines. However you must take your own playing style into consideration. If you normally press the notes hard and press lightly when making the adjustments it will most likely be off. Also make sure to pluck the string like you normally would when playing because all these factors make a differance. And last but not least - Always make the intonation the last thing you do. Make sure the string height, truss adjustment and neck angle (bolt on) is set before setting intonation.
Q. "My Les Paul intonation is still sharp even with the saddle all the way back."
The Les Paul uses a tunematic bridge. The saddles are flat on one side and angled on the
other. Sometimes you need to remove the individual saddle and flip it around so that the flat side
is to the back of the bridge. This way you get the most length out of the string. I've encountered
this numerous times over the years. Also, it's more important to make sure your 12th fret fretted
note and the open note are both in tune together than the harmonic. So if you can get the fretted
note and open together but the harmonic's a little off you're probably alright. Most tuners are more
accurate than the human ear. Of course some may dispute this but most factory guitars are not perfect
so getting perfect intonation is almost impossible. In twenty years and too many intonation setups to count,
I've never had anyone complain yet.
Q. "What are the tonal differences between Alder, Ash, Poplar, Basswood, Mahogany and Maple?"
Alder: full and rich, with fat low end, nice cutting mids, and good overall warmth and
sustain. Alder is generally considered to be one of the "traditional" Stratocaster body woods.
Ash: exhibits a "snappier" tone with a bright edge but with a warm bass, and long sustain. It is
often considered as the other "traditional" Stratocaster body wood.
Poplar: one of the softer hardwoods, nicely resonant with a meaty tone. This wood is being
used by many guitar manufacturers as a substitute for alder as it is quite similar in tone.
Basswood: the principal wood used on most Japanese made instruments. This is due both to
its tonal response, (once again, very similar to Alder) as well as the fact that Basswood is much more
readily available to the manufacturers in Asia.
Mahogany: deep warm mids, good sustain and nice "bite"
Maple: punchy, bright, and has a nice bite on the high end. Often used only as a laminated top
instead of an entire body, as it tends to be a particularly heavy wood.
Q. "What does the term "neck radius" mean, relative to my guitar ?"
The measure of the curvature of the top of the fretboard from edge to edge, is often referred to as
the "neck radius". Actually, the correct terminology would be either fretboard, or fingerboard radius
and the neck shape and size would be called "neck profile".
The fretboard radius can be found by first drawing a circle with a corresponding radius, (the "radius"
is the distance from the center of a circle to its outer edge), and then cutting out a portion of that circle
corresponding to the width of the fretboard.
For example, if you have a 7 1/4" radius fretboard. You could tie a piece of string to a pencil,
measure out a length of string to 7 1/4", and put a thumbtack on the other end of the string. Secure
the tack, stretch the string, and draw a circle. By cutting out a piece of that circle the width of your
fretboard, you will have an example of an arc with the same curvature as that of your fretboard
radius.
Q. "What is a V, C or U shape neck ?"
The letters V, C, and U are used today by Fender in an attempt to describe the shape and contour
of the back of our guitar necks. Necks described by these letters will correspond (although not quite
as exaggerated), to the visual appearance of these letters. The V shaped necks come in two different
versions, a "soft" V and a "hard" V. The "soft" V shape is a bit rounded off, whereas the "hard" V is
somewhat more pointed. There are a couple of other neck shape descriptions which do not have
directly corresponding letters. These are the "oval" and the modern "flat oval". Many people,
however, do use the letter "C" when referring generally to these "oval" shapes. The "U" shape is
chunky and rounded, with high shoulders, as seen in the exaggerated letter U. There is no doubt that
it is easier to understand the application of these terms to the necks when you put your hands on
them and get the feel, however, the use of these letters is pretty accurate in describing the shape of
the back of Fender necks.
Q. "How often should I have a set-up done on my guitar or bass ?"
All electric guitars and basses which are made from wood and are subject to changes in temperature
and humidity. Guitars are machines which have moving parts, and like any other machine, they
require periodic maintenance and adjustment in order to insure a maximum level of performance and
playability. It is very important to familiarize yourself with the different points of adjustment on your
guitar or bass i.e. truss-rod, tilt-adjust, saddle height, and intonation , as these features are there for a
very important reason.
The woods of your guitar absorb the moisture (humidity) in the air, and expand and contract with
changes in both temperature and humidity. This phenomenon may be illustrated easily with the
following example: Suppose your guitar is already in tune, and you subsequently transport it during
the heat of summer, to an air-conditioned venue. When you take it out of the case and let it cool to
room temperature, the pitch of the guitar will dramatically drop as the wood cools and shrinks, causing
the tension on the guitar to decrease. While this dramatic example may not require immediate
adjustment compensation, it is often necessary to make seasonal adjustments in the action of your
instrument to compensate for these changes. It is also important to note that changing string gauges or
materials will also affect the amount of tension on the neck and will usually require a neck adjustment
to compensate for this change in tension.
It is also, not uncommon that there may be a "settling in " period with a new instrument, where
periodic adjustments in the action must be made until the wood stops moving, (bear in mind that
seasonal adjustments may still be necessary). If you're a "do it yourselfer", visit Fender's
Setup Guide page for detailed information on setting up
your instrument.
If you do not feel comfortable making adjustments in the action of your guitar, we would
recommend that you have a qualified technician check out your instrument for the proper setup
adjustments approximately every 6 months.
( The above Tech Tips taken from fender.com - visit Fender's website for more tips and faqs )
Q. "Why is my Strat noisy when the 5-way switch is in position 1, 3 and 5 and not in position 2 & 4 ?
Single coil pickups are inherently noisy because of the nature of their design. Historically, Fender and most
other guitar manufacturers, have relied on single coil pickups, but there has always been a trade-off between
the great tone they provide and the 60 cycle hum which they introduce into the signal. On most modern Stratocasters,
(excluding the U.S. Vintage series which uses 3 identical pickups), the middle pickup is reverse wound/reverse polarity
to the other two pickups. When the middle pickup is used together with either the bridge pickup (position 2) or the neck
pickup (position 4), the hum is canceled out in precisely the same manner that a humbucking pickup eliminates hum. In
positions 1 (all the way toward the back of the guitar), 3, (middle position), and 5 (toward the front of the guitar),
however, each pickup is being isolated, and when used alone, will not cancel the hum. You may find it a benefit in noise
reduction, however, to add extra shielding to the guitar's control cavity, either in the form of shielding foil or
carbon shielding paint.
( The above Tech Tips taken from fender.com - visit Fender's website for more tips and faqs )
Q. "How Do Potentiometers (pots) work ?"
Pots are available in various ohm ratings; 25K, 50k, 250K, 500K, 1 meg etc.. There are two type tapers
- Audio & Linear. Guitars usually use audio taper, because our ears don't hear changes in volume in a linear
fashion as you might expect. The value of the pot used is determined by the guitar's pickup(s). Generally,
250K pots are used with single coil pickups, 500K with humbuckers, and 50k or 25k with active pickups. A
higher value pot can produce a brighter tone, while lower values can fatten the tone. The value also affects
the smoothness of the pot's taper to some degree.
Check out the Schematics page for basic potentiometer wiring.
Q. "Which is the best way to Shield for less noise"
Lots of vintage instruments, and many new guitars, have single-coil pickups which
are highly susceptible to 60-cycle hum.
One quick and easy method of eliminating much of that pesky noise is to apply shielding. You can shield your instrument with our conductive copper tape, or with conductive shielding paint.
In order to completely shield your guitar, you'll have to dismantle and de-solder most of the guitar's components. It is highly recommended that you make detailed notes on how every component was originally wired. Mark specific wires and solder points with tape labels to help you rewire the instrument. Be very thorough Ñ one mislabeled or unlabeled wire could cause a great deal of confusion when you rewire the system.
ALL of the shielding must be in contact with ground. There are several ways to apply a ground to a shielding network. When using copper shielding foil, the ground wire can be soldered directly to it. Another method is the use of a solder lug attached to the control cavity's sidewall (make the lug out of scrap brass attached with a small wood screw, or simply use a brass screw). Solder a wire from the volume pot casing to this lug for a good ground. If your volume pot housing is in contact with the foil, a ground jumper wire isn't necessary. Conductive paint is also very good for shielding control cavities, pickup routs, and drilled holes. The paint is easily applied to small, tight areas where foil isn't applicable.
It's easy to connect a ground from a shielded cavity to the pick guard foil in a "Strat" style guitar. Apply the control cavity paint or foil over the top of the body, in the area that would be under the pick guard and around the pick guard screw below the bottom tone pot. The foil on the pick guard should also surround this screw hole, so that when the pick guard is screwed into place, the grounded foil on the pick guard will come in contact with the cavity shielding.
Q. "Why do I get a buzz on only 1 note ?"
There's no 1 reason that can cover every possibility. But, one that is very easily overlooked shows up at the shop
all the time. After strings have been on for a while sometimes the string will become bent (arched) on a note that
possibly gets played a lot or is squeezed hard over and over. This arch will create a dip in the string height
immediately after the fret. If the bend is on the "A" note on the six string (5th fret) then the buzz would occur over the sixth
fret. In the case of a bend, the string will have to be replaced to resolve the problem.
Another string related buzz comes from a dent being worn into the string where the string meets the fret.
Again, changing the string would be the solution.
If the buzz is from a groove in the fret itself, then the frets will have to filed or replaced. Don't try filing your frets unless you
have experience. The best thing would be to get it to a local repair shop and have them look at it.
Q. "My strings keep slipping out of tune."
The number one way to avoid strings going out of tune is installing the strings properly.
The one mistake most musicians make (because no one bothers to tell them) is not making sure
the winding is nice and tight at the tuner. Make sure each turn is under the previous one and
make sure you leave enough extra when you cut them to have about 3 complete turns. This of course
can't be accomplished with the big "e" on a bass but 2 are usually possible. After putting them on
take the string from about the 12th fret and pull up. This will tighten the rest of the winding to
the tuner.
Sometimes strings get stuck in the nut. When you tune there may be tension on either side of the nut that releases
when you start playing. This changes the tension on the string and throws tuning out. Filing the nut grooves wider will solve this but
it should only be done by someone with experience.
There's always the possibility that the tuners are not functioning properly. I haven't ran into tuners
that slip as much as tuners that jump because of the gear ratio and the tuner shaft not fitting well against the gears. Sometimes
the gear will gradually become shaved in spots due to loose fitting shafts. This usually is on open tuners or inexpensive types
with the back which can be removed. In this case it's best to replace the keys with some type of sealed tuner.
Q. "What are the differences in string types ?"
There are a lot of strings out there these days and it can make it really confusing as to what string will do the best
job for the players' particular needs. Unfortunately, the same strings will sound different on different guitars. There are a few
things that can narrow it down such as type of metal, winding, thickness, etc.. Below is a general guideline that may help to make a
decision. In the end, experimentation will be your best guide. Keep in mind the style of music you play and what you want to do.
If you are a rocker and like scraping the pick against the strings you won't like flatwound.
NOTE : String gauge can make major differences in truss rod adjustment and intonation. If you are experimenting, it may be best to stick with one gauge and test it in different types of strings. If you are using a locking tremolo, changing the gauge will definately throw it out.
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