harrison1138
First Lieutenant   Posts: 11 Registered: 6/15/2007 Status: Offline
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posted on 10/14/2007 at 16:23 |
1. I've got a right handed Epiphone Casino that I restrung as a lefty and
not surprisingly, I have a problem. When I tune it up using a tuner, all
bar chords sound alright between frets 1 and 10, but anything past 12
sounds like crap and any open chord sounds like crap. I've tried intonating
it, but I've probably done it wrong. You can play individual string from
1-10 but anything past 12 is off.
When I restrung the guitar, I removed the nut and glued it on backwards,
flipped the bridge around and re-adjusted it, but thats it. If anyone has a
remedy or a good answer, let me know.
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brian
Moderator   Posts: 1075 Registered: 12/22/2003 Status: Offline |
posted on 10/15/2007 at 18:31, Reply 1 |
how's the neck action
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Telefreak
Moderator  Posts: 468 Registered: 1/12/2004 Status: Offline |
posted on 10/17/2007 at 13:35, Reply 2 |
Have you adjusted the intonation?
The tune-o-matic bridge is a bit of a pain when changing a right handed
guitar to left handed.
They don't have enough adjustment to get the intonation right on the top
and bottom E strings so you have to settle for near as dammit.
It annoys me how left handed guitars are more expensive ____________________
Technology, not technique
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harrison1138
First Lieutenant Posts: 11 Registered: 6/15/2007 Status: Offline |
posted on 10/18/2007 at 19:09, Reply 3 |
I tried to intonate it, but I'm not 100% sure on how you do that. I tried
tuning the guitar up and then testing the harmonic at the 12th fret to see
if it was off. Then I just adjusted the saddle in either direction to
correct the error. Don't know if this has anything to do with it, but the
saddles for the high E and B strings are facing opposite to the other 4
saddles.
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Telefreak
Moderator Posts: 468 Registered: 1/12/2004 Status: Offline |
posted on 10/18/2007 at 21:03, Reply 4 |
I usually set my intonation to the 5th fret on the next string, apart from
the B which is set to the 4th fret on the G, same as tuning to each
string.
You may need to change the way the saddle faces to get enough
adjustment.
Good luck dude  ____________________
Technology, not technique
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harrison1138
First Lieutenant Posts: 11 Registered: 6/15/2007 Status: Offline |
posted on 10/20/2007 at 15:46, Reply 5 |
To set the intonation, I'm just using harmonics right? I took what you said
as hitting the 12 fret harmonic and then hitting the 5 fret harmonic on the
next string? I'm still kind of unsure what the purpose of intonatting a
guitar is. Could you enlighten me once and for all what is trying to be
accomlished?
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Telefreak
Moderator Posts: 468 Registered: 1/12/2004 Status: Offline |
posted on 10/22/2007 at 19:48, Reply 6 |
| Correct intonation is needed so that the guitar stays in tune when you play
further up the neck ____________________
Technology, not technique
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UncleWaldo
First Lieutenant  Posts: 12 Registered: 1/29/2007 Status: Offline |
posted on 10/23/2007 at 02:57, Reply 7 |
Maybe we need to look at how you're setting the intonation. Yes, you're
using harmonics, but it's "how" you do it that may make a big
difference.
You said you had a tune-o-matic bridge and that you "flipped it around
(along with the nut)" when you restrung the guitar as a left. When the
bridge and nut were originally set up, they're set to mimic the curve (or
radius) of the fretboard. When you "flipped them around," you're probably
no longer matching the radius. You can fix this.
You'll need some tools, first. Get ahold of:
A good electronic tuner
A standard-head screwdriver (1/8")
A piece of 100-grit sandpaper
A set of car Feeler Gauges (you can pick a set up at Ace Hardware, Checker,
or AutoZone)
The first thing you'll want to check is the height of the strings over the
first fret. You'll want about 1/10th of an inch clearance. Take the .010
blade of the feeler guage and slide it between the low E-string and the
first fret. It should slide easily thru and just barely be under the
string. Do the same thing on the hi E-string side. If the spacing is okay,
go on to the next step. If you've got a lot of room between the guage and
the bottom of one of the strings, you'll need to fix the nut.
You can do this by loosening the strings, sliding out the nut (if it's not
glued in... if it is, take a hammer and nail punch and lightly tap it on
the side to snap it free). Note which side of the nut is the "high side."
Place the base of the nut on some 100-grit sandpaper, and, putting pressue
on the high side, stroke it easily across the paper (not too hard, you can
take off a lot of material pretty quickly). Just 3-4 strokes at a time.
Then put the nut back in place, tune up the strings and recheck the spacing
between nut and string again. Keep doing this until you get about 1/10th of
an inch on both sides.
Next, you said you "flipped around" the bridge. We'll need to check the
relief at the base of the neck now. You'll want about 1/16th of an inch at
the 17th fret. Take the feeler gauge and find the combination of blades
that add up to .0625"
Slide the gauge between the low E-string and 17th fret. Does it slide
easily between and just barely clear the bottom of the string? If it lifts
the string, you'll have to raise that side, and vice-versa if there's too
much space in between.
Again, slightly loosen the strings and adjust the height wheel at the base
of the bridge. There's one on each side. Turn it clockwise to lower the
respective side of the bridge and counter-clockwise to raise it. Repeat the
same drill on the hi-E string.
Now comes the time-consuming part... the intonation. The trick here is to
do it while holding your guitar in it's normal playing position... not
laying flat on it's back.
Plug the guitar into your tuner and tune it as normal.
Now, pick the 6th (low E-string) and make sure it's in tune on the tuner.
Then, play the harmonic on the 12th fret. Wait a second for the note to
settle in. Is it higher or lower than the open note? Take the screwdriver
and locate the 6th string screw at the base of the bride. When you turn
these screws, they'll move the saddles in the bridge either forward
(towards the neck) or backwards (away from the neck). Forward lowers the
tone and backward raises the tone. Turn the screw clockwise to move it
forward (raise the tone) or counter-clockwise to go backward (lowering the
tone). ONLY TURN THE SCREW ABOUT A QUARTER TURN EACH TIME! Don't overdo
it.
Once you make the adjustment, retune the open E string. Then re-strike the
harmonic at the 12th fret. Decide if the harmonic is higher or lower than
the open string and adjust it with the bridge screw. Keep repeating this
until the open string matches the harmonic 12th.
Once you have the 6th string intonated, move on to the 5th "A" string and
repeat the procedure. Do this for each string.
And, once you've finished the high E-string... go back to the 6th string
and do it all again (Sometimes the lower strings will go out of intonation
once the higher strings are checked... it doesn't hurt to check them all
again).
I know this is a lot... but I hope it helps.
____________________
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