Set Up Your own guitar intonation

                In the world of guitars one of the biggest mysteries with beginners to some advanced guitar players is setting up your guitar intonation. Well the truth of it is that setting up your guitar intonation is really not all that difficult. It should be part of your basic guitar maintenance.

                Here is the long list of items you will need in order to accomplish this task. You will need either a Phillips head screw driver or and Flat head screw driver or an Allen wrench depending on your guitar the Last item is a electric guitar tuner (this is a must). That’s pretty much it. I would recommend a decent tuner. Not necessarily a great tune but at least an ok one.

                I am sure you have heard from your friends or read in a book or on line that you don’t need a guitar tuner for this. The fact is this is true. You do not need a guitar tuner to setup your intonation. The other options may not be as desirable as using a tune but they are out there. There two other methods of setting up your intonation other than using a guitar tuner. The first one is setting the intonation by ear. I am sure there are some people out there that have this great sense of pitch but in this day and age of technology I don’t see any reason for this and would tend to trust more to machines on this one. The second method is by measurement. This way is a very precise way to set the guitar’s intonation but is also very complicated and can tend to take a bit of time. So that brings us back to what I originally suggested use a tuner.

                So here it is this is how to set up your guitar intonation. First thing I recommend that the string be relatively new. The next thing should be to tune up the guitar. Ok now that is done hit or pluck the first string I start with the low E. Again make sure that is in tune then on the 12^TH fret hit the harmonic note. Look at the tuner. Just like tuning the guitar is the note flat or sharp. If the note is flat simply turn the saddle adjustment screw on the bridge to bring the note in tune. Now this is where the road may split depending on the type of guitar or bridge you have you either have to turn the screw clock wise or count clock wise to set the guitars intonation. I know it sounds simple but many people get confused. Here is the rule if the saddle moves towards the neck that sharpens the note away flattens. It really is that simple. Repeat this method on all 6 strings (or 12 if you have a 12 string), and presto you are done your guitar’s intonation is set.

                The next question you may be asking is. How often does my intonation need to be setup?

I will answer you like this. It really depends on you. I have known people that say you must must must reset the intonation each time you change your strings. I ask them why and they tell me because the saddles will move what changing the strings. Ok that is a fair point, but seems rather extreme for me and far too much work. all I want to is jam. I am not saying this is wrong but I am not going out on tour with Bowling For Soup or Weezer so pretty sure doesn’t need to be done every time. That is my belief. I knew someone who insisted the only time this needed to be done was at the change of each season. Why I would ask him. Well he would say each season has a different range of humidity and that would affect how the guitar would play and this is why you need to set your intonation on this schedule. Ok fair point. Here is the bottom line do what feels and more importantly sounds right for you. I honestly don’t believe there is a 100% right answer. Set up a schedule and if that is not working for you adjust it. Remember this intonation does make a difference but does not make you a better player only practice does that.

Here is a quick video on setting up your guitar intonation.

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