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Ok, the Cyclone II, despite having been restrung (by
me) a few days ago and having had the truss rod
adjusted forward (clockwise?) it still buzzes all the
way up and down the neck almost. When I move up the
neck (higher) the buzzing gets worse and things start
sounding a little off. I'm assuming that by adjusting
the truss rod as much as I did that I screwed up my
intonation.
I would take it somewhere, but the last time I took a
guitar in it took the guy over two weeks, he charged
me my first born child, and he still didn't eliminate
all the buzzing, so forget that.
Quick note: this guitar came to me with 9's (with
which it rattled like crazy) and I promptly put ll's
on it (which improved it a lot, but not all the way).
Anyway, I can only assume that because I'm still
buzzing, I need to a)adjust the truss rod some more
and b)raise the bridge saddles until the buzzing
pretty much stops?
I am also assuming that after doing this I will need
to set the intonation over again, and my understanding
is that to do this you adjust the saddles
forward/backward until the harmonic at the 12th fret
AND the note played at the 12 fret are equal. I
assume shorten the string if it's flat and lengthen it
if it's sharp? Or am I backwards?
Richard
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Hi Richard,
Sounds like you need a good setup. You'll want to get the neck straight, and
sometimes its hard to do by eyeballing it. And bridge saddle height is
important too. Going from 9s to 11s was probably a bit of a shock. You might
also want to check out the tremolo, you might have to add a spring or two
(it has a strat like trem, right?).
Like you I got a little frustrated by the local yokel doing the setups, so I
tried to learn something myself.
I have found the books by Dan Erlewine (sp?) very helpful for learning how
to do a basic setup. He's the guitar tech pro who has contributed to Guitar
Player mag for many years. He's got at least two really good books out. I
have his "Guitar Player Repair Guide", which is aimed more at techs than
average joes. He has a newer book out that seems to be aimed more for
players wanting to do simple tweaks like you need.
The Mr. Gearhead site also has tips on doing setups.
I got some automotive feeler gauges, rulers, etc, and with the above two
sources of info I managed to do a pretty good setup on both my main guitars,
but it took a few tries. It just takes some time and fooling around. And
patience. If you get frustrated, just go do something else for a while,
otherwise you risk getting pissed off and torquing something off!
I think you got the intonation stuff right. If its flat, you want to make
the string shorter, hence the saddle comes forward.
Good luck,
BN
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard [mailto:]
> Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 5:39 PM
> To:
> Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Intonation - lemme see if I got this straight
>
>
>
> Ok, the Cyclone II, despite having been restrung (by
> me) a few days ago and having had the truss rod
> adjusted forward (clockwise?) it still buzzes all the
> way up and down the neck almost. When I move up the
> neck (higher) the buzzing gets worse and things start
> sounding a little off. I'm assuming that by adjusting
> the truss rod as much as I did that I screwed up my
> intonation.
>
> I would take it somewhere, but the last time I took a
> guitar in it took the guy over two weeks, he charged
> me my first born child, and he still didn't eliminate
> all the buzzing, so forget that.
>
> Quick note: this guitar came to me with 9's (with
> which it rattled like crazy) and I promptly put ll's
> on it (which improved it a lot, but not all the way).
>
> Anyway, I can only assume that because I'm still
> buzzing, I need to a)adjust the truss rod some more
> and b)raise the bridge saddles until the buzzing
> pretty much stops?
>
> I am also assuming that after doing this I will need
> to set the intonation over again, and my understanding
> is that to do this you adjust the saddles
> forward/backward until the harmonic at the 12th fret
> AND the note played at the 12 fret are equal. I
> assume shorten the string if it's flat and lengthen it
> if it's sharp? Or am I backwards?
>
> Richard
Hey Richard,
When I got my Strat and later my Jag, they both came with little
booklets by Fender on how to fine-tune the set-up. You might want to
check with your local Fender dealer - my bet is, they have the booklet
or can get you one easily enough. I did the intonation and the bridge
work on my Jag after changing the saddle barrels and also adjusted
that goofy tremelo-set button, and it all seems to work fine now.
One thing I learned about intonation: you can set it approximately by
first setting the intonation on the high "E" string to the twelth
fret, so that the harmonic and the fretted string are the same pitch.
Then adjust the "B" string bridge one string width farther from the
nut using a discarded piece of the "B" string as a measuring device.
Then, adjust the "G" string bridge so that it is the width of the "G"
string, again farther from the nut.
Then, set the "D" string bridge to the same position as the high "E".
Now, repeat by setting the "A" string a string width farther from the
nut using a discarded piece of the "A" string. Finally, set the "E"
string bridge yet farther from the nut using a discarded piece of the
"E" string as a measurement. The intonation isn't likely to be spot
on, but it gives you a really good basis to start with. Fine tune by
moving the bridge forward or backward in minute increments, closer to
the nut if the string is flat, farther from the nut if it is sharp.
Set the intonation with this approximate method first, adjust the
truss rod to get the gross fretboard adjustment about right (little to
no buzzing) then adjust the barrel height on the saddles so that the
strings are uniform height above the fretboard. Use your feeler gages
to get this correct and keep in mind, the neck is radiused so the
height of the outer "E" strings will be lower than the inner strings,
with the highest strings being the "D" and the "G," which should be at
the same height, at the apex of the radius.
BTW, intonation is the first and last thing to adjust. Set the
intonation with the method I just mentioned. Make gross adjustments to
the fretboard using the truss rod, and fine-tune the string height
using the individual barrel adjusters. Finally, set the intonation
again, first using the gross method, then fine tuning the individual
bridge pieces fore and aft until it is right.
Remember, you are working to get the best playability: you may
sacrifice a little buzzing to get low action, so long as that buzzing
isn't audible through your amp. Similarly, don't worry if the
intonation is a teensy bit off (especially at the sake of throwing
your guitar across the room in frustration). It will vary slightly up
and down the fretboard on all but the perfect guitar, perfectly set up
and perfectly tuned.
Good luck!
Gavin
