Wonky g-string..

[badgermark]

Don't get too excited ladies, not talking about undergarments.

My mustang copy has a dodgy g string. Dodgy in that it is out of tune. I can tune it open, and it's intonated at the 12th fret, but noticeably out at the 1st to 4th frets. This makes D chords sound horrible, the G is sharp.

What could be causing this? The action seems fine, and the other strings are good. Thinking maybe a dodgy nut? The string fits in with a push and it feels harder to fret at the 1st fret. I'm using some Ernie Balls heavy top medium bottom, 11 to 54 i think, on a short scale neck (24"). Any advice before I give up and take it to a tech?

[WezV]

probably the nut then.  do you have a file or tiny saws?

basically to check, fret the string just after the second fret, the string just clear the 1st fret by something like the thickness of a piece of paper.  if its higher above the first fret than that the slot needs to be deeper.

did the guitar have heavy strings before - because if not the slot might not quite be right for it at the moment

[badgermark]

Strings previously were pretty light, never had an issue going up a few gauges before. I'll have a poke about later and see if i can whittle it down a bit. If not a new nut wont be a bad idea.

Would that explain the sharp notes though?

[WezV]

if you have to push the strings further to fret them then you will be pushing them sharp -if its high at the nut you will be pushing them further/sharper.

i like 10's or 11's on 24" scale guitars... if you went for 11's and it had a well cut nut for 9's strings then the slot would be too tight and the string might not sit in the slot properly.. in which case the slot might not need deepening at all - it might just need a little extra width

you can confirm if the nut is the culprit by taking it out of the equation.  Tune the guitar so the first fret is in tune and set the intonation using the 13th fret note.  if the fretboard is then mostly in tune but the open note flat its definately the nut causing issues

[badgermark]

It's only really bad at the first few frets, i'll widen and deepen slightly at the weekend when i can nab a set of files or hacksaw blade. Thanks for the help.

[sjwebb90]

What are you using to check the intonation with?

From past experience the only real way to set the intonation accurately is with some form of Strobe tuner.

I happen to have a  Peterson Strobe tuner, with which I have used to intonated all my guitars and the difference is amazing. With cheaper tuners what you think is in, is actually a bit out.

Just a thought
SJ

[badgermark]

Just using a TU-2 and my ears. Sounds in tune and the TU2 is accurate enough for me. I'm going to invest in a set of nut files and stick a new one on myself. Bout time i got my hands dirty with neck set ups.