I have an American strat with the block-style saddles I believe. My problem is adjusting the intonation on the low E string. It's sharp all the way up the fretboard even screwed all the way in with the spring taken off. I've tried making the bridge flush with the body and that doesn't work. Can anyone suggest an answer?

Try a thicker low E string. Maybe a .052 if your using .009's, I'd try a .056. Ernieball slinky top heavy bottom's have gotten over this problem for me in the past. The only other option i can think of is to remove the spring on the screw at the back of the saddle, or to grind a bit of metal off the back of the saddle. Dont go crazy on that one though. Its easy to take too much off and be left with a useless block of metal that used to be a saddle.

My deluxe suffers the same malaise, i think its more to do with 2 point trems and the pressure put on those pivot posts. Never see it on 6 point trems. I use a heavier gauge low E on that deluxe. Take no notice whatsoever of anyone who tells you your strings will not be a correctly balanced tension set. The only maker of correctly balanced tension sets of strings lives in Canada and his low E is a lot thicker than 0.52.

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Alright. I was using 3150 or something fender strings. 10s i think.

Personally I like the Grinding idea.

Thanks!

If your going to try the grinding idea be very very carefull. If your going to try a thicker string then just change that one string for now. Dont try to up the gauge from say 10's to 12's, it will be too uncomfortable for you.

If you try the string change and it works well for you then consider a more balanced set. Ernie Ball heavy top slinky bottom or Zachary guitars balanced tension set.

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I just don't understand why the proper adjustment cannot be made using the existing screw. It suggests that the bridge itself is mounted incorrectly to the body. But that seems so unlikely.

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Don't do any grinding. There might be a problem at the nut. If the string is too high at the nut it will cause this. Check your string height and maybe file the slot to lower the string, or it could be an adjustment needed on the truss rod. If you are not sure about how to do these adjustments take it to a tech you trust.

Jgauker. Your absolutely right that grinding should be a last resort. Nut slot height would only affect the first 3 or 4(in extreme cases) frets. Where yes a high nut does make a hell of a tuning problem. It doesnt however govern openstring to 12th fret intonation. Its just too far away from that point to make a noticable difference. If it could move forwards or backwards, that would make a difference to string length. A couple of thou of an inch on height will barely affect string length though. Truss adjustment can be safely ruled out though. Any neck bowed enough to send intonation out would surely be unplayable and the intonation problem would manifest itself on other strings too.

Soggycrow, I agree. The problem is either the trempost moving in the bodywood. Or the tremposts not set to a perfect 90degree angle to the centerline of the body. The fact that it seems to be a major problem with 2 point trem guitars and hardly ever comes up on vintage tremmed guitars makes me think its a problem with the design of the unit.

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Check and make sure the pickups aren't too close to the string.

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I have another idea, though it will be tricky to implement. It is to cut a metal shim to sit inside the saddle slot. Very tricky to do right, and untested. I can't see why it wouldn't work though.

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Well I put my pickups pretty low but it's still messed up. I think the shim idea should work. I found some metal wire that I could hammer flat to just the right size to fit right inside the saddle. I'm going to try soldering a few pieces on top of each other inside the hole to retain the correct string height. Thanks, and I'll tell you how it works.

Can I suggest you let a tech do a complete setup

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I think I'd do the same thing CV. A Fender Authorized one at that.

Well I would say I would, but for some reason though it was 20 cents higher no matter what I did, now it's pretty close to perfect just minus the spring and screwed in almost all the way.

I have no idea, but thanks everybody.