Good Acoustic Guitars with good intonation

charloman

Hi all...

I'm not sure if this topic has been covered in here before, but I was wondering if anyone has any insight or has had any good experiences with acoustic guitars having good intonation?

The reason I ask is that no matter what guitar I have, when I capo the frets, the damn things have to be re-tuned on stage. Although this sounds like nothing much, it is a pretty big deal for me as a lot of the songs we play run straight into each other - requiring a quick switch of capo position etc....

The best I've experienced so far have been Taylors. But although Taylors are fantastic sounding acoustically and are a complete joy to play, they tend to be a complete nightmare on stage (for me anyway). No matter what preamp I used, they never really capture that Taylor acoustic sound unless a mic is sat in front of the sound-hole... and thats just not practical.

So, let me know if any of you have any recommendations.

Thanks in advance
C

Eoin Madsen

Tuning is put off by a capo when the capo tension is too high. Strings should only be held down to touch the frets. If you push them all the way down to the fingerboard between the frets, the strings will be stretched and the tuning will go sharp. The effect will be less noticable on a guitar with low frets and low action, but it's a universal problem which occurs irrespective of how well intonated the guitar is.

An actual problem with intonation that's so severe as to make the capo seem to put it out of tune would make the guitar completely unplayable without a capo as well.

You need to get a capo with adjustable tension, like a Shubb or similar.

-Chris-

You can also look at dropping your action and adjusting your neck relief to make sure the strings are as parallel to the fretboard as possible. I'd expect that'd help too.

charloman

Thanks for the info.... I'm gonna look into a Shubb capo now... does anyone know what stores stock them? I'm going to xmusic later on today... if they have them then I'll be treating myself to one....

PS. -Chris- I love the profile pic u got there.... niiiiccccccce

-Chris-

While you're in X Music, ask their opinion on the issue - the lads know their stuff (ask for Stephen if he's in - he's an excellent guitar tech).

Tomas911

Intonation is something that can be improved with a good set up. Isnt it?
Some guitars can only achieve a certain level of perfection but they can certainly be improved.

charloman

G'day again people... just wanted to thank you again... I was over in Xmusic yesterday and picked up a Shubb "Original" capo... there's a world of a difference using this thing. I used Kyser for a long time and I wont be going back to em now... I cant believe I never tried these before. It just goes to show that almost every accessory for guitar is a tool to enhance playability, and they require that you sit down and learn how to use them properly. With a bit of luck tuning problems with capos will now be a thing of the past for me (obviously there'll be slight adjustments to be made, but this has helped big time). Capos with adjustable tension are definitely the way to go.

I'll invest in a 2nd and 3rd Shubb now and have them set for electric and acoustic guitars and also to have spares... you can never have too much gear... some will argue that you can have too much, but that's usually your other half... and what do they know eh???

Thanks again... take it easy!