andyman wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 7:06 am Oh God, I'm an idiot. I always assumed they were some sort of electromagnet, but thinking about it that's incredibly dumb.

I remember raising the bridge one slightly after the setup, so when I had a break earlier I lowered it quite a bit just to see, and it just seemed to make everything way worse: the G string was too sharp in every fret including the 12th, while the saddle is already as far back as it can go.

Yeah. Lower the pickups, and try to get it lined up then. See what happens. Worth a shot.

tommy wrote:

eephus wrote: Sat Feb 11, 2023 3:21 pm Geoff is the best intonator of guitars that I know--if you lived here, I'd say take it to him and he'll just fix it for you.

+1 on this. I usually do all of my own simple setups, but every time I have a problem guitar with issues I take it to Geoff and it always comes back intonated perfectly.

The first time I brought him a guitar, it was a 70s Guild F150, and he diagnosed it (correctly) before he opened the case.

"People act like guitars are somehow magic and full of mojo, but it's just like working on a piece of furniture."

I am paraphrasing but that's more or less what he said last time I brought him something that involved a wrestling match with the guitar, which was last week. And it went from almost unplayably "out" to right on the money.

Warped body! Shimmed the neck expertly and it's great again.

eephus wrote: Tue Feb 14, 2023 4:11 pm

andyman wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 7:06 am Oh God, I'm an idiot. I always assumed they were some sort of electromagnet, but thinking about it that's incredibly dumb.

I remember raising the bridge one slightly after the setup, so when I had a break earlier I lowered it quite a bit just to see, and it just seemed to make everything way worse: the G string was too sharp in every fret including the 12th, while the saddle is already as far back as it can go.

Yeah. Lower the pickups, and try to get it lined up then. See what happens. Worth a shot.

On being lowered it required the saddle to go back even more (which it won't), so no dice, but thanks for the suggestion.

In other news I just found my baritone (Jurytone™) needs refretting on the lower frets and all the techs here quote refret jobs from £200 (the guitar only cost £250!). So ut's going to be an expensive danged month...

Capos... I'm going to be playing both my guitars with capos for the next while!

andyman wrote: Tue Feb 14, 2023 4:44 pm
On being lowered it required the saddle to go back even more (which it won't), so no dice, but thanks for the suggestion.

Huh? Pickup height shouldn't have any impact on saddle placement. What exactly did you try?

Nate Dort wrote: Wed Feb 15, 2023 6:12 am

andyman wrote: Tue Feb 14, 2023 4:44 pm
On being lowered it required the saddle to go back even more (which it won't), so no dice, but thanks for the suggestion.

Huh? Pickup height shouldn't have any impact on saddle placement. What exactly did you try?

I lowered the bridge pickup way down and everything started fretting sharp 2-3 cents, including the 12th.
So to try and make that work would require the saddles go back even more(?), but they're already all the way back.

Welp, I don't know WTF is going on with your guitar.

andyman wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:54 am The issue is present even unplugged (so I think the magnets aren't the problem?).

Wait, are you intonating using a clip on tuner? I wouldn't recommend that. Best to use something reasonably accurate (better than a TU-2) with a strobe mode. While we are at it, it's probably also best to check intonation with the guitar in playing position rather than lying on its back.

I've been testing it in playing position, but you're right - with a clip-on tuner (cross-referenced with a phone tuner too, fwiw, but I know that's hardly ideal)

You're gonna lose your mind trying to intonate with a clip on tuner!

MoreSpaceEcho wrote: Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:41 am You're gonna lose your mind trying to intonate with a clip on tuner!

It's not uncommon for people to bring me their guitars because they don't stay in tune and the only issue is their crappy clip on tuner never actually gets it in tune in the first place. Some of them get worse when the battery gets lower. I know there are some decent ones but I don't know which.