Struggling Intonating G String

chrisoldroyd

I am struggling to intonate the G String on my Epiphone Les Paul Special. I have a new nut properly fitted and all other strings are perfectly intonated except the G string. The saddle is as far back as it will go and it's still 10 cents sharp compared to the open and twelfth harmonic.

I have read that  turning the saddle round for that string will give me what I need but not 100% sure what I need to do, any advice?

Pics below

https://imgur.com/0W5r0Ct

https://imgur.com/XusPA8y

amarok1971

it could be a duff string, have you got another to try? ive had this happen to me before

chrisoldroyd

amarok1971 said:

it could be a duff string, have you got another to try? ive had this happen to me before

Yeah, this is the a new set of Ernie Ball 10's same issue before replacing them unfortunatley

Emp_Fab

I personally don’t intonate at the 12th.  I tend to fret it at the 1st & 13th or 2nd & 14th.  Fretting is better than harmonics IMO as it’s how the guitar will actually be played.

If you still need to flip the saddle, just remove the saddle adjustment screw, turn the saddle 180 degrees, so the slope is pointing away from the neck and put the screw back, and adjust as needed.

chrisoldroyd

Emp_Fab said:

I personally don’t intonate at the 12th.  I tend to fret it at the 1st & 13th or 2nd & 14th.  Fretting is better than harmonics IMO as it’s how the guitar will actually be played.

If you still need to flip the saddle, just remove the saddle adjustment screw, turn the saddle 180 degrees, so the slope is pointing away from the neck and put the screw back, and adjust as needed.

Thanks for the info, what's an acceptable difference in cents between octaves for good intonation?

Voxman

chrisoldroyd said:

Emp_Fab said:

I personally don’t intonate at the 12th.  I tend to fret it at the 1st & 13th or 2nd & 14th.  Fretting is better than harmonics IMO as it’s how the guitar will actually be played.

If you still need to flip the saddle, just remove the saddle adjustment screw, turn the saddle 180 degrees, so the slope is pointing away from the neck and put the screw back, and adjust as needed.

Thanks for the info, what's an acceptable difference in cents between octaves for good intonation?

Yup, that's the way to do it. However, you might want to check the neck relief before you 'flip' the saddle.  If you have too much/not enough relief this will make a difference too.  Regarding acceptable 'cents' differential I think this depends on how sensitive your ears are, and the type of music you play & where most on the neck you play.  Personally, I try to get the intonation as spot on as I can to ensure chords sound great throughout the whole neck length.  You also need to make sure your pick-ups aren't set too high as magnetic pull can muck-up the way strings vibrate and your tuning.  Getting a good guitar set-up means balancing all these things.  The only thing I don't do myself set-up wise is the nut - if ever that needs doing I'll leave that for a pro-luthier.  

Lots of good set-up guides on youtube.  Here's one but there are loads of others:

Phil_aka_Pip

chrisoldroyd said:

what's an acceptable difference in cents between octaves for good intonation?

IMO, zero

Emp_Fab

I wouldn't get too hung up on the number of cents.  Intonation shifts slightly as strings wear, temperature and humidity change etc.  Even if you get it to zero cents it won't be still zero a week from now.  Use your ears and don't obsess on the mathematics.

57Deluxe

re-cut your nut a little at a time on the troublesome string

Funkfingers

Emp_Fab said:

flip the saddle

Emp_Fab said:

I wouldn't get too hung up on the number of cents. ... Use your ears ... don't obsess on the mathematics.

These.



Otherwise, you could end up like this bunch. 
https://www.guitarsalon.com/blog/?p=19263

HAL9000

Funkfingers said:

Otherwise, you could end up like this bunch. 
https://www.guitarsalon.com/blog/?p=19263

Bit of a bugger doing bends though...