Anyone know what might cause notes fingered at the first and second frets to be either sharp or flat? This seems to be worse on the 3rd and 4th strings. For example, the A note fingered at the 2d fret of the G string comes out about a 1/4 step sharp.

I have triple checked that the guitar is in tune using and electronic tuner. The same tuner indicates the 12th fret intonation is just slightly off on the 5th and 6th strings, but the others are pretty darn close. I'm not positive that I checked this with the selector switch in the middle position. So I may have to re-check that.

The guitar is a 2007 '62 Reissue Strat and the strings are a new set of D'Addario Nickel Wound Jazz/Blues/Rock .011's.

Thanks for any help!!

Sounds like the nut is cut badly, and is causing you to pull notes sharp (which gets worse the closer you get to the nut).

That's the one.

Hi rmorris, welcome to the Forum.

Luckily, if the notes are sharp then it's OK because all you have to do is lower the string slots the right amount (if you know how to do that). 0.020 thou higher than the tops of the frets is a good depth for the slots.

Unfortunately, if the notes are flat at low frets... that's a whole different question.

Cheers - C

Could this be caused by changing string gauges?

I believe the '62 Reissue Strat come with .010's, so I would assume the nut was cut for those. I am using .011's. Is that enough of a change to make this much difference?

The specs say the nut is synthetic bone.

Did you go back and check innotation and neck relief?

No.

Notes fretting sharp at low positions is caused when the nut is cut too high. So you have to push the string down an appreciable distance to reach the fret, which increases its tension and sharpens the note.

The fix is simple (as described above).

However: changing the gauge of the strings will alter the intonation at the 12th fret, as you described in your first post. You must always reset the intonation by adjust the saddles when you change string gauges.

Two separate issues.

Cheers - C

If the higher gauge strings are not sinking into the slot enough, it could be a problem, but remedied as stated above by a slot adjustment. Very unlikely though as nuts on guitars fitted for 10's are slotted for 12's. Higher gauge strings do generaly require extra length on saddle adjustment though.
Is it worse as you proceed up the board? I.e the 2nd fret is 1/4step out. What does the 1st fret measure? There is a significant difference between frets 1 and 2. The first fret should always be a bit sharper than the 2nd fret on a regular nut. A poorly slotted one will accentuate that problem. A guitar measuring 1/4 step, 25cents sharp on the 2nd shoud be measuring roughly 5/16ths or around 28-32 cents sharp on the 1st fret. The worse the slot the greater that distance will be. How about frets 4-8? Saddle adjustment does remakably little to anything below the 4th fret. The 4th 5th and 6th frets you need to stay away from when tuning as they are the main culprits in guitar/temperament problems. So tune open check the first couple of frets then check around the 8th/9th.

As an aside before you get the problem fixed. Would you do me a favour and tune your 1st fret notes at the first fretfret, eg F,A#,D#,G#,C,F and check them at the 13th fret when your guitar is intonated for the open notes.

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No no and no

Thanks very much for your replies and questions. I will do my best to explain what I see here if answer to your questions.

First I will explain what my tuner shows. This tuner displays the note with 3 marks above (sharp) and 3 marks below (flat). A s note becomes more sharp, the bottom marks go away and a not gets more flat the top marks go away. I am not sure how many cents are represented by each mark, but the tuner has a reported accuracy of .5 cents.

To be safe, I put on a new set of strings before measuring tonight. It dooes seemed to have made the problem more consistent up and down the fretboard. My intonation is very slightly off, and I will have to adjust that tomorrow night (if I can get home from work at a more decent time than tonight). The weird thing is that it is worse on the 2nd, 4th and 5th strings, but pretty much right on at the 1st, 5th and 6th. Testing notes at the 12th and 13th frets show the same trend on both.

Checking the notes at the first fret, all notes are sharp (lost 1-2 bottom marks) except for the G# (3d string) which seems to bounce between losing one bottom mark and being perfect.

Checking notes on the second string, all notes are sharp by 1-2 marks again, including the 3rd string, and the 1st string lost 3 bottom marks. However, it seems I can almost make the problem go way if I press the string very hard with my finger partially on top of the fret such that it is a muted tone instead of a cleanly ringing tone.

As I move up the fretboard away from the nut, the problem is pretty much consistent, but improves slightly by the 9th or 10th fret.

Since this guitar is about 10 months old now, maybe it has 'aged'. I had a setup done when I bought it, but not since. Do you think this could "simply" be that I need to set the intonation properly and then have the neck relief checked by the repair shop?

I will report back again tomorrow after checking for your reply and setting the intonation.

Thanks!!

(Thursday) Good morning, rmorris.

That's all very detailed, thank you. It doesn't however change anything that's already been said.

First, you must set your intonation absolutely accurately, so that it is correct on all strings both open and at the 12th fret. In your first post you said it was slightly off on some strings: you can't do anything else till you've put that right. It's a few minutes' work.

After that you can conclusively identify which strings are playing sharp at low frets. There is no mystery about this; it simply means the string slots in the nut are not cut deep enough, so the string is too high above the fingerboard and when you press it down to the fret it is stretching it enough to make it audibly sharp. That effect is most pronounced nearest to the nut. The slots are cut differently for different strings: that's why you are hearing different results from different strings.

It's as simple as that.

If you know how to adjust the slots on your guitar's nut then do so. It sounds like you don't, which is perfectly respectable. So take it to a tech/luthier. This is a fairly quick and easy adjustment. A few minutes' work - not too expensive.

Problem solved.

Though I'd also be fascinated if you care to do what Nikininja is asking (above). Curious to see where that leads...

Good luck - C

I got home early today and took everyone's advice to set the intonation. Once I did that I checked for the sharp problem on the top frets and it was improved, but still there.

I also went though the setup instructions on Fender's site and found a few issues. The Low E was nearly dead at the 12th fret and very buzzy over most of the neck. The saddle for that string wasn't level, which I could have fixed, but...the nut was loose and needs re-glued.

I called the repair shop where I had the setup done a year ago and he said he would check it out for free to at least confirm what I thought I found. He said the neck was too high as well, which I took to mean the neck relief was too convex, and the string height was off, more on the base side that the treble. He also said the clip-on tuner I used was not valid for checking intonation and that I should use a plug in tuner, like a Quick Tune or chromatic tuner pedal.

So, I decided $60 for full setup is worth my time to have a pro fix things, so I will get it back Saturday afternoon.

Thanks to everyone for the knowledge and advice. I learned a lot from you gys in a short time. Maybe someday I can help some other newbie.

Wish me luck!