Epiphone casino Q2: Was intonation always this bad?

[sirdoh]

Zoning in on the setup: In the past I just used to set the intonation at the 12th fret (probably by ear) and that was that. I had to flip on on the bridge pieces round on the guitar to get enough adjustment. Anyway its done to ear and confirmed with a tuner.
These things are cool! They cost almost nothing, clamp on the head stock and I can't hear any error. I tune to harmonics and check with the tuner and we are good to go.

Playing down on the first frets its not completely in tune, so I checked with the tuner and, yeah most of the strings are sharp around frets 2,3,4,5 getting less so toward the 12th.
Am I being over-critical? Was it ever thus?

[Melt in the Sun]

Nut slots are probably too high.

[CASD57]

My wife bought me an Epiphone ES339 Pro LTD P90 in 2015 ..it was so bad that after several attempts to fix the intonation, I stuck it in its case thinking I would just take it to a guitar tech...
7 years go by and I finally dug it out... watched some youtube videos and fixed it myself...
Love that guitar now... and its the reason I'm back to playing Electric again

[BoneDigger]

Originally Posted by Melt in the Sun

Nut slots are probably too high.

I would second this as a likely cause, or at least a contributing factor. I have a Casino Coupe and didn't have any issues with intonation after a minor setup. Now, granted, the frers are a not very well polished, but that's an easy fix for my next string change.

[Russ C]

Originally Posted by Melt in the Sun

Nut slots are probably too high.

In fact if you haven’t adjusted them or had them adjusted I’d say it’s a certainty they’re too high and there goes your intonation.

[PTony]

Originally Posted by Russ C

In fact if you haven’t adjusted them or had them adjusted I’d say it’s a certainty they’re too high and there goes your intonation.

Agree 💯%. Happens all the time. The best piece of gear I have is a set of Music Nomad nut files. A properly cut nut is so overlooked yet so important.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by PTony

Agree 💯%. Happens all the time. The best piece of gear I have is a set of Music Nomad nut files. A properly cut nut is so overlooked yet so important.

Not only is proper height nut slotting great for intonation at the first few frets, it also makes the difference between between a comfortable action and one that is a chore.