Intonation setup question

[Modular1]

I took a guitar of a friends home with me to repair a broken jack socket for him. I've restrung it and cleaned all frets up with the grade 0000 wire wool I use on mine and it's looking good. The problem I'm having is that when I'm trying to setup the intonation I don't have enough movement available in the saddles to get it correct on the bottom E. When tuned to E on the open string the pitch is high at the 12th fret. I've moved the saddle as far as it will go from the pickups and it was getting better but now I've run out of room. What other issues may be coming into play here? It's not the greatest quality trem but if the other strings are ok im wondering why the low E is being a tw@t.

Any suggestions?

[Twinfan]

Can you flip the saddle round or file it down in some way?

[ToneMonkey]

Fatter string.... or thinner string.

One of the two but I'll be buggered if I can remember which.  :lol:

[FELINEGUITARS]

Normally
Fatter string =>needs longer intonation
lower tuning => needs longer intonation

worst case scenario - drop tuning with fat strings - you might easily run out of adjustment

I often find that a lot of guitar manufacturers mount their bridges too close to the neck than they need to and this doesn't help - It's fine for regular tuning or drop D but go much lower and it gets tricky

I assume that we are using brand new strings and you're not trying to make old strings work (often a recipe for trouble)

[Modular1]

no, its deffo fresh strings. its actually the set bkp sent me with my Pigs, so its a standard set of 10s. It wouldnt be anything to do with neck relief would it?

[Modular1]

Also I'd like to add that I'm an owner of a great BC Rich guitar and I'm somebody who has defended the name on this very site in the past. But after setting up and having a general good look at this lower end BC Rich guitar (Its a Platinum series Warlock) i would have to agree. They have put out some real piece of shite guitars. lol. But on the same note i would like to express to people they are not all like this stinker!

[ToneMonkey]

Could you add a spring to the trem to stop it pulling as far forward?

[Frank]

I had this problem when I fitted a 6-way telecaster bridge, low E saddle wouldn't move far enough to set the intonation correctly. I ended up removing the saddle spring entirely but with the saddle that far back it became impossible to lower the string until I ground the metal down a bit. All of which is a bit ironic as I fitted the 6-way bridge because of intonation problems with the original.

[Modular1]

ive tightened up the springs on the trem a little to no avail. its a cheap locking trem. it currently floats level with the body as it should.

i thought this was just gonna be a 'replace input jack, clean, replace strings and setup' task. it now appears there are issues with the electrics.

tbh, the intonation will do ok for now. there are bigger issues!

the parts from axesrus had turned up today. i replaced the input jack, plugged it in and... bzzzzz. volume pot faded in and out strangely. i had a pot kicking around from my 'frankenstrat' project so i replaced the volume knob. the fading shite stopped and the buzz is now replaced with a hum when i touch any metalwork on the guitar.

the trem has a shitety diecast metal block on the back. could that be the reason for the hum? bad conductivity? ive had hum on guitars before, but normal in reverse (ie it goes away when you touch the strings)

i wanna get this guitar working as well as it can. my friend doesnt play any more simply because his guitar is $%&#ed. it would be nice to have a fellow guitar buddy. hopefully a working guitar might inspire him to play again and buy a new one :D


looks like ill have to strip it down and find the fault. any ideas on what may be the cause of this hum?

[FELINEGUITARS]

Yep - that is a bridge that could do with being 5-6mm or more further back.
Ultimate solution
Remove trem, remove posts (and bushings if any there)
Fill existing holes with hardwood dowel and redrill new holes further back

[Modular1]

Yep - that is a bridge that could do with being 5-6mm or more further back.
Ultimate solution
Remove trem, remove posts (and bushings if any there)
Fill existing holes with hardwood dowel and redrill new holes further back

He can live with it. lol.

[Modular1]

Well i got it all repaired for him. Volume pot replaced, input jack replaced (lol. the hum was my fault. got the connections reversed! doh!) and all cleaned up/setup as best as i could. Took it round to him last night and he was proper chuffed with it.

[JacksonRR]

Normally
Fatter string =>needs longer intonation
lower tuning => needs longer intonation

worst case scenario - drop tuning with fat strings - you might easily run out of adjustment

Aww man. Here I was thinking about getting 12-60s tuned to A and set real high for slide.

Hey Feline, what's the farthest out you've seen an intonation point having to be set on a 25.5" scale with a 56(ish) string tuned to C, with a fairly low action?