andrewjbryson
Hi guys...
Al, must admit great articles, on www.ratcliffe.co.za , really useful. Not only do give valuable information ,but you explain it as clearly as possible...
So I adjusted the saddle of my floating bridge (Floyd Rose)...
moved it towards the nut (decrease scale length)
The saddle seems to almost reach the end of its track now...
However, the intonation is a lot better now
I would say they are OPEN E and 12th FRET E are "almost perfect"
(perhaps out by a few (0 - 10 cents) .
When I last took my guitar to a "pro" , he said that he's gonna have to raise the nut ?
So will raising the nut , correct the tension and thus allow better scale length?
AlanRatcliffe
Hi Andrew
Thanks. I actually need to revise those early setup articles to clarify further. I never seem to get the chance.
Good on the intonation. 1-3 cent is fine, 10 is not. Only very few people can determine anything under a 3 cent variance by ear anyway. 10 cent however is quite a bit. With the just intonation of the guitar, certain notes on the G and B strings are up to 4 cents sharp in the first position, so it's better to be spot on or slightly flat at the 12th fret, rather than sharp on those strings. Depending on your bridge, you may have a row of screw holes for the intonation which are closer to the neck.
Only raise the nut if you have a buzz on the first fret when you play open notes or if you purposely want to stiffen the feel of the guitar a bit along the whole string length. It would make the guitar slightly louder and punchier, but be more difficult to play - especially the legato stuff.
cain
I dont want to sound funny, but i have never heard of lifting the nut on a floating tremelo ? Is it a locked nut ?
AlanRatcliffe
The radius is fixed on a Floyd locking nut, so you just raise or lower the nut by using steel shims.
The Ibanez guitars of yore used to come with three different thickness shims (1, 2 & 3mm) with the case candy. You could mix and match them to get a range of nut heights.
cain
Oh i never got those, those andy mcgibbons people prolly took it. I didnt get a allen key either ☹
AlanRatcliffe
I don't know if they still come with them. They used to, but then all but the cheapest models came standard with cases too.
