Need Help for intoneation problem

[captainleeward]

So I have a stratocaster copy I have leveled the frets and set the action which is very good I also grooved the nut to get the .016 clearance above the first fret.

Problem: I have set the intonation on all six strings and five are perfect but the 6 the string low e wont't adjust to pitch.
I have the adjustment bar all the way back to the end which has helped some but is still out a few cents..
This does not seem natural to me as all the rest of the strings are fine? What can I do to fix this problem???? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.... Thank you for reading this blog. Cap.

[Sonic Mountain]

What weight strings are you using? I’ve come across this on a few of my f style guitars when I run 9s. I’ve even gone as far to take the spring off behind the saddle to give a few more mm adjustment backwards.

[wazkelly]

Good response Sonic as thicker gauge strings will require low E to be wound further back. Great idea to remove spring for a bit more adjustment.
I used to run 9-42's on Strat type guitars and now using 10-46 on Explorer (24.75" scale), both Tele's plus the Artist Grungemaster which has TOM bridge. Plenty of adjustment available on all of them.

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[dave.king1]

Good point about the springs, I use 10s on the ST and only use 3 springs.

Spring tension might be too low and the bridge screwed down too tight.

Just my thoughts

[captainleeward]

Hello guys nice to hear from you.


I see I should have added more info.
the string gauge are 12s
the bridge is a hard tail no springs. I have removed the tension spring on the adjuster in question.

So the new thing is the string adjuster goes to a certain point then i must reverse the screw s the meter says going up before the end of the bridge and now still will not intonate?

[wazkelly]

Sounds like you need to relocate the hard tail bridge back a few mm's to allow for extra string length required on low E.
Is there enough forward travel of bridge saddles on high E side to work with?
I had a similar problem on my J Bass when going from light to medium gauge and ended up fitting a better bridge that had bigger base plate footprint to allow for required string length adjustment.

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[captainleeward]

Hi Wazkelly, you may be right I shall keep working on it to see what may work. Bye...Cap

[Simon Barden]

I'd first check that it isn't the standard Strat 'pickup pull' causing problems with the intonation. Wind the pickups right down, so that they are away from the strings as far as possible, then see if you can intonate the bottom E. If you can, then it's not the bridge position at fault, but the magnetic pull from the pickups (often it's the middle pickup that's most to blame)

If so, you then need to raise the pickups a bit at a time until the intonation starts to be affected, then just back off a bit. Keep the poles at least 3/32" (2.5mm) away from the strings (when fretted high up the neck).

[stan]

A closer pic of the bridge might help. Sometimes reversing one of the saddles gives a bit more to work with

[Simon Barden]

A closer pic of the bridge might help. Sometimes reversing one of the saddles gives a bit more to work with

Only with a Gibson-style Tune-o-Matic. Fender style bridge saddles aren't reversible.