Chinese tunematic

[popsaka]

...Hey, kids... On a tunematic bridge can you lift out the saddles and reverse them if need be for intonation? Now lets see if I can guess... You back the screw out as far as it will go and then it lifts out?

[cynical1]

Yes, you can flip them. And yes, it works pretty much like you've already figured out.

Keep in mind, it's not going to give you a tremendous amount of wiggle room, but if you're only off a couple of cents it might do the trick.

Which side are you flipping, just out of curiosity...

Happy Trails

Cynical One

[popsaka]

...the bass side, specifically the A just won't quite sharpen up to the harmonic... I suspect also that a new or heavier string may solve it... Its a Chinese Les Paul... really nice. A student of mine just got it off Ebay for 200 US ...Humbuckrs all gold trim, Chinese Grovers and (egad) painted pale pale yellow but nice, none the less... The intonation/tuning has been the only problem

[cynical1]

Jul 31, 2011 6:06:20 GMT -5 popsaka said:

...the bass side...

Well, that makes sense. Typically where you have to cheat.

The only thing that concerns me about knock-off guitars is the potential lack of attention to details you find on them.

The tune-o-matic bridge is generally angled when mounted. A common rule of thumb for intonation versus scale length is subtract 5/64th from the high E and add 3/16" to the low E. Again, this is just generic, your results and mileage may vary...

Here's a good generic representation of how the bridge and tailpiece relate to each other:



This can change, depending on several factors, but you get the idea.

This can be a deal breaker if the drilled mounting holes are off for the scale.

I'd say for $200.00 the Chinese knockoff in question does not have a compensated nut, but a bad cut on the nut can also effect the ability to intonate the guitar.

Another thing to look at is string height. Sounds like a non-issue, but at the octave you can get the harmonic in intonated, but the fretted note goes South on you.

Just for reference, when you check the intonation on the A string, how much of a difference is there between the fretted note and the harmonic at the octave?

Hope the saddle flip works.

Happy Trails

Cynical One

[popsaka]

...I won't be able to service the ax 'till this coming Sat. but backed up for the shortest possible distance from bridge to 12th fret it was still a little flat... just a fraction of a microtone but enough so that one in five block chords would be out of wack... in other words, not tune-upable ;-) BTW I keep lowering the action -its down to a nickle at the twelfth fret on the treble side and still no buzz anywhere -plus because the low 'E' intonates normally I still suspect a new 'A' string might bring the thing around...

[Yew]

On some tuno's, turning the bridge around so the screws are on the other side can help however I cant remember if it is ABR's (thin ones with a wire touching the strings) or Nashvilles (thicker body, no wire) that it works on

[popsaka]

...hey, I never thought of that..;-)