Intonation adjustments happen at both ends of the string. Its just as important to have the nut in precisely the right place as it is the bridge. Its a rare occurrence for me to have to correct an improperly positioned nut, but it does happen. I think Ive had to repair 3 guitars with this problem in the last two years. In this case, the nut was to far from the first fret, making the guitar play sharp, no matter what was done at the saddle. It was only off by 1.25mm, which might seem trivial. In my world though, the game is played in 1/10 of a mm, so 1.25mm is as big as a mile. In order to shorten the fingerboard cleanly, on a finished guitar, I carefully placed and clamped a radius block to the fingerboard in order guide my saw blade. I use Japanese saws, because I prefer cutting on the pull stroke. In this case, I used my fret slotting saw. I slowly cut my way down until I had a sliver removed. Once re-assembled and setup, it played in tune!
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 22:40:59 +0000