intonation

cena

how to you go about fixing the intonationon a les paul. got it done over a year ago.

i'v tried to do it. i would tune it to normal tuning. it an open string done fret it on the 12th. would go about fixing it. think i would one done it. hit the open string again and do the 12th thing only to find the string is out of tune.

i'm i doing somthing wrong

OK-Cancel-Apply

You need to adjust it until the natural harmonic at the 12th fret is the same note as when you press down on the fret. A digital tuner would help.

Voodu Child

-Tune the open string perfectly*.
-Play the 12th fretted note.
-If the 12th is too flat (ie lower in pitch), shorten the string (using the saddle adjustment). If its too sharp, lengthen the string.

The particular saddle adjusments will vary from guitar to guitar, but you just have to visualise whether the string is getting longer or shorter to understand which way to adjust it.

You should do any adustments with new(ish) strings, and the action set the way you like. Use the best tuner you can, most cheap electronic tuners don't have quite the degree of accuracy preferable.

*some use the harmonic at the 12th rather than the open string. Im not going to go into the differences here, not necessary for the OPs purposes