Starcaster With Lace Alumitones

I tried to find out more about your Starcaster and found some pictures HERE.

Did you ever get to to DB for a look?

Looks to me like you've got two problems, and one problem is making the other one worse. Looks like the neck needs to be flatter in order to get the action down. The higher the action, the more tension you need to pull the string down to the fret and so the higher the pitch of the note will be at a given fret. This means that the saddles will need to be further back to compensate. Get the action lower, and they can be further forward.

So, have you adjusted the truss rod at all, or is it at the factory setting? If you haven't adjusted it, or have done it a bit, then it looks to me like it needs to be done further. First get a long straight edge (one that's just longer than the fretboard is ideal) and lay it along the fretboard (if you want to set up your guitars and basses, then you'll need to invest in one if you haven't got one already). If you've got any more than a 0.5mm gap between the straight edge and the 7th or 8th fret, then the board can be straightened more, with a reduction in action hight as a result.

So get the hex key and give the truss rod 1/4 turn to the right (clockwise). If there's no real resistance, then it probably hasn't been tightened enough to put the rod under tension, so you'll need to turn it until it does start to feel harder to turn. Just be careful here, and keep using a straight edge along the fretboard to see if you can notice any difference in the amount of curve. I'd suggest you keep turning (1/4 turn maximum at a time) and measure after each turn, until the board is flat, then give the truss rod 1/4 turn anti-clockwise, to allow a small amount of concave curve in the neck.

(If at any point, the truss rod suddenly gets very stiff, then stop turning, as you might be at the end of the thread and any more force could shear the end off the truss rod - which is a very bad thing).

You've probably moved the truss rod quite a bit by now, so it's best to wait overnight under normal string tension before checking again and seeing if the neck is still near-flat. If its concave curve has got bigger, so there's more of a gap under the middle frets, then you'll need to turn the truss rod again slightly (probably won't be by much) until the gap is minimal.

As the bridge is at its lowest position, then you won't get the action any lower than it is now (without working on the nut and/or saddle slots). However, the action may now be too low, specially on the higher frets, so you may need to raise it up a touch.

It's probably worth checking the intonation now, to see if it has improved at all. If so, you may need to do no more than adjust the saddle positions to get everything in tune, but if not, it's time to adjust the bridge.

Do you see the two screws at the back of the bridge that are pushing against the bridge posts? Well, they are for moving the bridge back so that you can intonate the strings if the bridge is sitting too far forwards. Try screwing them all the way in, so that the bridge is pulled right back from the posts and then see what your intonation is like now. (Slacken the strings right off first to avoid undue wear on the adjustment screws any time you move them - forwards or backwards, then bring the strings up to pitch again afterwards).

If after doing this, the saddles are still all the way back and the notes are still sharp, then there's not a lot you can do (short of filling and redrilling the bridge post holes further back). But if not and you can now get the strings in tune using the saddles, then I'd undo the two rear bridge screws as much as possible so that the bridge sits as near the posts as possible. You'll probably have the high E side nearer the posts than on the low E side.

The bridge can get rather wobbly when fully extended, so it's best to get the bridge as far forward as possible and have one or more of the saddles as far back as possible, than to have the saddles in the middle and the whole bridge right back.

If you can now get the intonation sorted, or a lot lot closer, then it's really time to look at the fret slot height. In the pictures, there seems to be a significant gap between the strings and the first fret. Unless you've got some nut files (good ones are very expensive to buy in a set - but worth it if you plan to build or set up more guitars) and know how to use them, its probably best to take the guitar in to a luthier or a music shop with a luthier attached to have the slots lowered. This will reduce the overall string height and make it easier to play on the first few frets. It won't affect the action of any fretted notes, so won't cause any string buzzing. However it will lower the overall tension required to depress any string, and so the intonation might require adjusting again after this - but this would be in a towards the nut direction.

If the action is still too high for you after doing all the above, then it is possible to cut the notches in the bridge saddles lower. Again, best done using nut files of the right width for the string diameter. Something a luthier could do during a set-up if asked. Over-cutting just means that the bridge can be raised to compensate. It's best if the slot depths in the saddles match the fingerboard radius. Ideally, the saddles should also be filed so that the string is only sitting on a small section of saddle. The slots will need to be smoothed out with some fine and then very fine grit paper after filing, to reduce string friction.

If you do encounter a stiff truss-rod that can't be turned any more, then it's worth unscrewing (anti-clockwise) the truss-rod nut and giving it a good internal clean, in case is simply a case of something like metal swarf getting stuck in the threads. Then a drop of a light machine oil on the threads to lubricate them, and put the nut back on and try again. If it's still impossible to tighten it enough to get a really straight neck before it gets really stiff, then you've probably reached the end of the cut thread on the rod and that's that. There are special truss rod thread cutting tools available from StewMac that will let you extend the thread length in situ, but these are quite expensive and you really need to be familiar with using taps and dies first. Again, something a luthier should be able to do.