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Post by pete1951 on May 2, 2021 9:49:11 GMT
As a plain third string is very common on electric guitars you might expect an adjustable bridge on a modern electric to be be able to get the string to play in tune. Just about all the electric guitars I have seen ( from the East) have the bridge set so this is impossible.  The G bridge piece ( and usually the D as well) need to be reversed, see below,  Changing these is a bit fiddly, there is a wire( on old Gibson style bridge) but at least it will now play in tune Pete |
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Post by slide496 on May 2, 2021 12:00:03 GMT
I thought that was what the tune-o-matic was made for. I have one on my Epiphone Les Paul Special II. You can adjust those up and down as well as forward and back which I like, but then I mainly play slide with a few partials usually above the seventh fret. Maybe there are issues with barring down the fretboard.?
Spring is in the air,
H
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Post by pete1951 on May 2, 2021 18:02:42 GMT
I don’t think many slide players worry about this. However, lots of people ( with new guitars ) come to me and say “ Please get the intonation right” and on most guitars I will have to swop the 3rd (and usually the 4th) saddle around. I don’t think Gibson thought players would be so fussy, most early Gibson guitars can’t be intonated perfectly ( or could it be that strings were different then) the bridge pieces often can’t be adjusted to the correct spot. This might be a way of checking a vintage Gibson is genuine? Does it play in tune,?yes- then it’s not vintage! Here is a 58 Les Paul, note the bridge  By 1961 things were much the same. Here is a 345 from that year, it almost plays in tune  |
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Post by pete1951 on May 2, 2021 19:38:25 GMT
Interestingly on a current thread ( colour change/staining) there is a pic of a LP copy ( bridge pieces fitted so the G is probably minutely sharp , and D minutely flat) and a famous LP with bridge pieces wound right back!
I rest my case.
Pete
Having said that, did anyone ever criticise Peter Green for playing out of tune? What ever he played on that guitar was perfect, I guess sometimes everyone else was a tad flat.
Yes we can improve the intonation on your guitar, but will it make you sound more like Peter Green?
I’m afraid we all know the answer.
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Post by Pickers Ditch on May 3, 2021 7:36:06 GMT
Interesting point Pete.
Could it be something to do with the banjo string trick that seemed to arrive in the early 1960s?
The original strings were possibly those with a wound third and heavier guage then we found out about reducing gauge by throwing away the top string, replacing it with the lighter banjo string, dropping the remaining five strings down a slot and throwing the bottom E away.
The light guage set was born!
The pre-early/mid sixties Gibsons were designed and set up for the heavier strings and then they modified the system for the lighter guages everyone seemed to be using?
I'm old but not that old to know for sure.
The other change noticeable at roughly the same time was the change in angle of the stop bridge and introduction of the 'lightning' saddle on the Les Paul juniors, Melody Makers etc. to 'improve intonation'.
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Post by pete1951 on May 3, 2021 7:44:51 GMT
I guess it could be string gauge in the case of old Gibson guitars, but Strats and Teles have basically the same bridge as they had in the 50s and can be perfectly intonated (is that a word? My spellcheck doesn’t think so?) with just about any string gauge.
Pete
Ok, Teles have a compromise on the original 3 piece bridge ,but you get the point
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Post by Pickers Ditch on May 3, 2021 7:59:30 GMT
I've just had a butchers at my Strat and Gibbo and it seems that the Strat has more saddle travel available (longer screw = more adjustment) which would perhaps make it easier to intone properly, springs permitting?
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Post by pete1951 on May 3, 2021 9:56:06 GMT
I've just had a butchers at my Strat and Gibbo and it seems that the Strat has more saddle travel available (longer screw = more adjustment) which would perhaps make it easier to intone properly, springs permitting? This is true, though I have setup a few strats in my time and most top Es come fairly close to the bridge screw. I don’t have a new (70s or younger) Gibson but I guess a careful message of the scale length olld-to-new would prove something. Pete |
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Post by Pickers Ditch on May 3, 2021 11:53:33 GMT
Fret width/height might show something, too.
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