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In Touch with Intonation
Christopher Mowatt
Luthier & Owner
Guitar-Tech Guitar Repair Services

Saddle position at a given string height is what we adjust during a routine setup. If we like the way the instrument plays, has the right action, then we set the position of the saddle to allow the note measured at the 12th fret to be as in pitch as the note measured when the same string is plucked open (no frets are in play). If the 12th fret note is sharper than the open note, the saddle must be moved further away from the nut. If the 12th fret note is flatter than the open note, then the saddle is moved closer to the nut. There are mathematic equations that you can use to determine the amount the saddle should move based on how many cents the note is sharp or flat, but I use trial and error. The equation is interesting but its still an estimate so you might as well move the saddle a little and see where you end up. Experience will pay off. For you acoustic guitar players, correcting the intonation of a fixed saddle is not always a simple thing to do unless you have special tools to do the job. Compensated saddles help in many situations and you can even grind a standard saddle to move the witness point on the saddle for each string. This works best with 1/8” wide saddles but not very well with 3/32” wide saddles. Generally speaking Gibsons, Taylors, Takamines and Ovations (among others) don’t come out of the factory with bridges glued on in the wrong place or saddle slots milled in the wrong position, so if you are experiencing poor intonation chances are there are other problems at play here. For practical purposes, the best ways to influence intonation on an acoustic instrument is by having proper relief in the neck and a proper string height.

Read on and you’ll understand why.

Author’s biography: Chris Mowatt is a bass player who has been repairing fretted instruments for approximately 10 years with 6 more years experience building basses as Simpson- James Guitars. He holds a BS in Engineering and has over 20 years of process and manufacturing engineering experience in precision electro-mechanical systems.