Viewing entries tagged
intonation

Intonation out of whack :: 2011 Fender Pawn Shop '51 [7.6 lbs]

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Intonation out of whack :: 2011 Fender Pawn Shop '51 [7.6 lbs]

Yikes! The intonation on this Fender Pawn Shop 51 is way out of whack. In the photo above I adjusted the high e to it's proper location. Note that the high e is set roughly at the scale length (25.5"). The rest of the saddles all need to fall behind this one. The player is into jazz so no wonder his chords sounded so out of tune, even for jazz!

The main reason this ended up on my bench though was for a missing output jack nut.  Since this guitar was made in Japan, the threads on the jack are metric.  I could not find a metric nut in my parts cabinet so we decided to install a much more robust Switchcraft jack along with a serrated washer to help keep it tightly mounted.

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Fret level & recrown :: Fender Custom Telecaster HH

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Fret level & recrown :: Fender Custom Telecaster HH

A custom neck through Tele with dual humbuckers in for a fret dress.  Most fret levels that come through the shop are done to correct buzzing issues.  This player has a good ear and the flat spots in the jumbo frets were causing intonation issues for him.  With a wider fret, the fretted note's contact point gets pushed more towards the bridge as the fret looses it's crown when compared to narrow fret wire.  Leveling out the divots and recrowning restores the string's contact point to the center of the fret slot to provide improved intonation.

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Hipshot to fix a 2 point leaner :: 1970s Gibson EB-3

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Hipshot to fix a 2 point leaner :: 1970s Gibson EB-3

Ah, more on the heavily modified 1970s Gibson EB-3.  A combination of a low neck angle and poor design of the original 2 point bridge made it the ideal candidate for a modern upgrade.  As you can see from the photo above, the two maple wedges were an attempt to keep the bridge from leaning forward.  But leaning issues aside, the action could not be lowered any further.  In comes a Hipshot 2 point Supertone bridge to help out.  It has a lower profile and it's machined with far greater tolerances to maximize sustain and allow for proper action and intonation.  I agree that it does change the vintage vibe of the bass, but if you value playabilty over vintage-correctness, this is the way to go.

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Fret level crown polish :: 1999 PRS Custom 24 [8.3 lbs]

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Fret level crown polish :: 1999 PRS Custom 24 [8.3 lbs]

Fret level crown polish :: 1999 PRS Custom 24 [8.3 lbs]

Excessive fret wear was causing intonation issues on this bolt-on 24 fret PRS.  Jumbo frets (aka wide) can be more prone to tuning issues because the contact point of each worn fret gets pushed back towards the bridge and causes notes to play sharp.  Leveling out these divots and recrowing the frets resets the intonation point back to the middle of the fret slot, therefor minimizing intonation issues.

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