Quote:
Originally Posted by Zion33
Hey I got some questions on improving intonation, the idea is I don't wish to do anything too drastic as to stray from traditional lutherie per say..
The biggest thing I've found is using a zero fret or just having a nut cut to the height of the frets, this improves the intonation in the open position greatly since the strings don't need to travel as far to be fretted.
If the open strings are intonated "perfectly" then the focus from here is on fretted strings and adjusting the bridge thereof, my question is, I play around the 5th fret and open position far more than I ever use the 12th fret area, should I perhaps consider intonation from a place other than the 12th fret, and when I intonate should I fret the string or use the harmonic? I kind of think to fret the string as I never actually play harmonics, when I play I fret.
Also does narrow fret wire (horizontally) improve things?
Thank you
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Lots of good comments here, and the same stuff gets stated every time intonation is mentioned. (Pay particular attention to anything Charles Tauber posts...)
I have always thought that most any Taylor I have played was particularly good at intonating well. A recent comment by Bob Taylor in his Wood and Steel publication fielded a question by a reader who wanted to know about Taylor's nut location. Bob Taylor stated that from the earliest days the Taylors were slotted with a gang saw that included the nut position, which was trimmed off later. This resulted in the actual nut location being positioned at where the "front" of the nut slot would have been, making their nut position effectively forward shifted by one half the distance of the fret slot width. Taylor said that is still the case today and he feels it contributes to the Taylor's intonation. It's worthy of consideration...
Years ago I wrote a bit about intonation perception as it relates to equal temperament; you might find it interesting.
http://web.archive.org/web/201603282...tionTips3.html