Saga Kit stories and Intonation problems

[Jim_H]

I'll testify on behalf of the "Tink" test. Rick showed me this in the class I took with him, and I subsequently have used it on all of my guitars.

This is a case where the difference of a thousandth of an inch can make a difference in playability and intonation. I use the exact process Rick described, and while I still need a little practice in my technique, I will say that it's improved my instruments fairly dramatically.

[tippie53]

Rick is on the money . My basic initial set up procedure is this . Once the neck relief is right and I am happy with the action height I want to tweak the nut slot . When I string up the guitar for the 1st time I take the 1st string trim piece ( .008 to .010 ) and I adjust the nut slot so that I can just get the gauge piece under the string . I want a clearance from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string .
Once string up I can tweak the nut . I have a nut slot gauge I got from Martin that has a .007 step off the top of the fret plane and gets me in the same area . I like the TINK test and will try that.
Never underestimate the importance off a good set up. The set up makes the guitars feel light or heavy. The better a set up the better the guitar will play.

[Ben-Had]

Tim -- I think that if you increase relief another .007", you can lower those nut slots without buzzes, assuming good fret work etc.
Also, measuring action height at the 17th is unusual and works only when the saddle is height-adjustable. Most people measure at the 12th since it's easy to translate those measurements to saddle adjustments.

And totally agree: if you can't HEAR the sharpness, it isn't there, no matter what the tuner says!

I'll try the higher relief next time out and see how I like it. I only use 17th on electric height adjustable saddles (12 on all others precisely for those saddle adjustments mentioned), 17 seems to get me a little closer to what I want (read lower) without having to try and measure fractions of those 64th's which I can't see.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Bob,
I don't think anyone has told you how NICE this guitar looks. It turned out really NICE. Who cares how it sounds......just kidding of course. Good job.

Kevin