Our rhythm guitar player Ryan bought a Fender Blacktop yesterday at GC. Of course, they don't do setups. So I took it and started giving him a good setup.

Strangest thing.. Everything went well except for the high E.

The way it is now, the high E would have to be almost off the bridge. It's already touching the bridge screw (6-screw bridge), and it's still -20 cents out of intonation. All other strings went just fine.

How is it 1 string needs to be THAT much further forward than the others? What would I do about this? I've personally never encountered it before.

Any suggestions?

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Could it maybe just be a bad string?

Or a nut slot cut way high, so fretted notes are pulled sharp... no, wait... You said the note at the 12th is flat, right?

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Jim Bordner
Gravity Music - www.gravitymusic.com
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My high E is adjusted pretty far forward. To the point that when I was setting intonation on my Tele (also a 6-saddle) I was thinking it wasn't going to be able to adjust it as far as it needed.

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Try raising or lowering the saddle on that string a couple turns.

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Ok so.. Freaking weirdest thing I've ever encountered. But it was in fact the string. I changed strings, and it will intonate just fine. I've never encountered that before in all my years. It's crazy to me that a string can literally throw off the mathematics of intonation. But it's fine now.

EgFryer.. Thanks man. That was the problem. I appreciate the help.

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Crazy that the string caused the issue. Glad you got it figured out.

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I've gotta tell you, I'm still baffled by it. How is it possible? With the new string it's perfectly intonated now. The old one was -25 cents at the 12th in this same spot that the saddle is sitting right now. It's a very strange phenomenon to me, but either way, it's all good now.

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Shredd, when a string is that far out - and what you're stinging is a factory made object (I mean, c'mon... the bridge just can't be that far out of spec), then it's usually a "bad" string.

Modern strings intonate precisely because of amazing consistency in the metal along the entire length. When that rare string gets by with some kind of metalurgical craziness in it, one half of the string may vibrate completely differently than the other, resulting in the phenom you just experienced.

On a similar note, the music that orchestral composers wrote for the string section became more harmonically daring when fiddle string technology changed from gut to newer, more stable materials... Because the fiddles could be intonated more precisely. Technological change has always affected the music.

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Jim Bordner
Gravity Music - www.gravitymusic.com
Composer, producer, Egnater Artist

I have had that happen with a single string more than once--a little E and a B string specifically.

They wouldn't get in tune. No matter what I did, that particular string wouldn't behave...if I got it in tune, it would go out after the first bend. Just a manufacturing defect, I guess.

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Yep, and it seems to affect thinner unwound brings more often.... which makes sense, I guess, considering how they're made.

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Jim Bordner
Gravity Music - www.gravitymusic.com
Composer, producer, Egnater Artist

Given how strings are made, it should be most common with the high strings. the thicker string have a little higher margin for error, and wound even moreso.

Strings are wires. Wires are essentially pulling a metal rod through a series small openings, each smaller than the last, until the desired diameter is reached. (simple cliff's notes version.) the rod stretches, and then is pulled through the die (or draw plate, the piece of metal with the hole.)



But not only the rod/wire are effected, the hole in the draw plate slowly widens too. so over time that plate stops producing wire of the right gauge.

Also any inconsistency in the metal could mean inconsistent diameters along that length of wire (this is the most likely culprit with bad strings.) lots of chances for inconsistent strings, not all of which can be caught in QC testing. in fact it's amazing how consistent they actually are.

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