Question for guitar players

awsom-0

Member
May 8, 2005
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Dallas, Tx
Hey guys, on bridge of the guitar there are six slots ,i guess you can call it that, that you slide your strings through and stuff. Well on the slots are springs with screws and you can adjust them, I ,being the dummy I am, started messing around with some and didnt realize it. Would this affect the tuning of the guitar or am I just paranoid?
 

lagged

1991 1JZ
Mar 30, 2005
2,616
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new rochelle
sounds like youre talking about a standard shitty fender like bridge. find a happy medium between tightened all the way and loose.
 

jmcboost

New Member
Mar 31, 2005
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Missouri
Ya, If it is what i am thinking of, you can change the intonation of your guitar by moving those bridge sadles around. When you move them around you are changing the length of the string protion that you play on, which also kind of moves the notes that you play flat or sharp. It's kind of hard to explain, but you can fix it or take it and get it fixed. Is it a strat or what kind of guitar is it.
 

jmcboost

New Member
Mar 31, 2005
704
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Missouri
Just thought of a way you can get it close to where it was. If you have a good guitar tuner. You need to tune each string to it's correct standard tuning. Make sure it's as close as you can get it. Then on each string, press down on the 12th (octave) fret and see if it is sharp or flat. Adjust the screw to try to get the string to be in tune when it is open and in the 12 fret . That should get it close.
 

NATAN666

yarrrrr
Apr 4, 2005
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user.dccnet.com
^^^^ ya, thats if you change the screws on the side... if you mean the tiny little set screws on the top, two to each saddle, then that just changes your action and will barely noticeabley affect your intonation. you can adjust the height to your liking (as long as the strigns dont BUZZ cus they are too low)

but ya if you turned the screws on the side, thats the intonation.. think of it this way

the string's pitch is determined by its length, it's width, and how tightly it's strung.

if you adjust the length of the string (altho however minutely) you shift the points where the notes appear along the length of ths string. you need to measure half way (the 12th fret) and tune it so that the 12th fret is the same pitch but an octave higher as the string. it's not as simple as tuning it, shifting the point and your done, because each time you shift the locations of the notes alnog the string, the entire pitch of the string changes as the length and tension both change.

it's hard, but if you have an electric tuner you need to tune the string, then play the 12th fret. (a natural harmonic right above the 12th fret is better, but im assuming you dont know what that is) find out how much higher or lower than the first note the 12th is, turn the screw a little (tighten the screw to lengthen the string, thus bring the note "closer" to the bridge. this will shift the pitch while raising the tension. retune the string, play the 12th fret (or harmonic) and repeat until they are both exactly on the note (0 cents off either way)
 

awsom-0

Member
May 8, 2005
129
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Dallas, Tx
hey guys thanks for the tips for the fix, jmcboost that helped alot. i have an Ibanez destroyer that they brought back a few years ago it looks just like the one pictured.
 

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jmcboost

New Member
Mar 31, 2005
704
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Missouri
Ya, those are sweet guitars. I play a few ibanez's and love them. They are not too expensive, and are built pretty durable.