Three-saddle bridge intonation SECRETS.

[ScottieHotrod]

Just stumbled across this

http://="http://www.seymourduncan.co...ddle_up_your/"

Apologies if this has been posted before but anyone with a vintage bridge NEEDS to read this.

[rolling56]

Originally Posted by ScottieHotrod

Just stumbled across this

http://="http://www.seymourduncan.co...ddle_up_your/"

Apologies if this has been posted before but anyone with a vintage bridge NEEDS to read this.

You link needs fixing so http://www.seymourduncan.com/support...addle_up_your/ and yes it has been posted a few times here

[ScottieHotrod]

Whoops, n00b mistake. Even so.. I always assumed that vintage bridges were incapable of 'proper' intonation and were just a quirky feature until I read this.

[rolling56]

ya just takes time to get the hang of setting them up. This needs to be posted every now and then anyway so no worries.

[telex76]

It's been seen several times, but since we still get threads almost daily about players not being able to intonate a Vintage 3 barrell bridge correctly, and lots of guys who think it can't be done at all, then it doesn't hurt for it to pop up now and then.

That's how I do mine and I never have problems with intonation.
I once got a tele with compensated teles on it and couldn't yank them off fast enough.

[ScottieHotrod]

Originally Posted by telex76

we still get threads almost daily about players not being able to intonate a Vintage 3 barrell bridge correctly.

I'm surprised there isn't a 'definitive' telecaster setup sticky here. Or at least a sticky with all the best links etc.

[Bartholomew3]

You might find after following that procedure - which I feel is common sense anyways as it's averaging things out:

Chords in certain places still sound a bit "sour". May depend on your instrument and style.

For instance I always set intonation sightly flat on my bottom E and A since I hit them pretty hard and drive them sharp.

[ScottieHotrod]

Originally Posted by Bartholomew3

For instance I always set intonation sightly flat on my bottom E and A since I hit them pretty hard and drive them sharp.

Same here, especially when you throw a 3mm jazz pick into the equation. Not that I do that anymore but I often broke them in half playing too hard. The silly things you do when you're young.

[tap4154]

I honestly can't see how you can intonate a Tele with the compensated barrels. Mine are all so close with stock barrels, if I had compensated barrels, they have to be way off. My CV is dead on with the stock barrels, except for a couple cents sharp on the B string at the 12th. I could twist that barrel a bit, but honestly, it wouldn't matter much IMHO. My '52 is the same, just a few cents sharp on the B string at the 12th, and the rest virtually perfect.

By the time you grab chords, bend and apply vibrato, they all go a bit off anyway.

[tinman402]

I had no issues getting mine close enough no one would ever notice.. Seriously you guys should worry less and play more...

[musicalmartin]

The only real secret is that your the only one who knows,or even cares .

[Bud Veazey]

Originally Posted by tinman402

I had no issues getting mine close enough no one would ever notice.. Seriously you guys should worry less and play more...

+1

BTW, I've found that the Joe Barden vintage compensated 3-barrel intonates within a couple of cents on all six strings.

[bluesfordan]

Originally Posted by ScottieHotrod

Whoops, n00b mistake. Even so.. I always assumed that vintage bridges were incapable of 'proper' intonation and were just a quirky feature until I read this.

For years, I stayed away from telecasters with 3 barrel bridges. "What was Leo thinking?" I used to say. "There's no way to intonate them" I declared. Then Fender finally got wise and put 6 saddle bridges on them. "About time" I cried. Except one thing, I didn't like the guitars. Bought and traded several, all types, US, Mexican, etc. They just didn't sound right to me. Confused, I wrongly assumed teles just were not for me.

Then, in the early part of this century, I happened upon a MIJ tele with a neck that just grabbed me by the short hairs and said "play me." I had no choice but to oblige.

I exchanged some labor with a guitar store owner who set up the saddles, much in the manner described in the link, and the light shone on me. Now I won't even look at teles with 6 saddle bridges anymore. It just doesn't sound right any other way. A tele is a 3 barrel bridge, the way Leo meant it to be.

YMMV. IMNSHO. etc etc etc

[backporch guy]

I have one Tele with a three saddle bridge, and I have had no problems getting it intonated. I will admit that it is not perfectly intonated, but once i got the rest of the setup where I wanted it (relief, action, pickup height, etc.), it intonated very well. It's an allparts bridge with compensated plain round brass saddles, not expensive. Am I doing something wrong?

[Scrapperz]

I just built a tele kit with the 3 saddle bridge and got the tuning just right, was really surprised as this is my first Tele. Other people say it sounds good too, which means a lot.

[telex76]

Originally Posted by Bartholomew3

You might find after following that procedure - which I feel is common sense anyways as it's averaging things out:

Chords in certain places still sound a bit "sour". May depend on your instrument and style.

For instance I always set intonation sightly flat on my bottom E and A since I hit them pretty hard and drive them sharp.

Same here, but you always have to take your playing style into consideration when making any kind of adjustment.

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by tinman402

I had no issues getting mine close enough no one would ever notice.. Seriously you guys should worry less and play more...

I bet you've been playing a Tele for a while.

What I see happen is, guys make subtle adjustments as they play to cure up notes that would otherwise be sharp or flat a bit. And/or they instinctively avoid playing passages in a part of the fretboard where out of tune notes would sound out; they work around chords and note sequences that naturally sound sour.

They've gotten so adept at it, they don't even recognize what they're doing.

I am starting to feel like, these Joe Barden saddles are too slanted to work for the majority of guys. They're "too compensated" and they would throw a wrench in what the seasoned players have been doing for too long to be trying to change, I suspect, at least in some cases.

[Turtleface]

I've got the vintage style threaded steel saddles on my Tele, (my first) and I have no idea what the big deal is with intonation. I run 11's with a wound G, which I understand is closer to what people used at the time of the Tele's development, so that may help. I'm pretty much dead on, according to my Strobostomp.

[psyched]

Heck, I want the ashtray more than anything. I play a lot of fingerstyle, and there's no more convenient handle for adjusting the guitar in your lap or over your shoulder than the bottom lip of that sucker. I think it's really what does it for me.

I like the way three-barrels adjust, and because I'm one of those dips that likes neck vibrato I'm more or less tanking my intonation all the time anyway. And perhaps most importantly, they appeal to me cosmetically. I don't really give a crap if the intonation is a few cents off here and there if the look of the thing makes me want to pick it up more often when I walk by it.

[DrBanana]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

I bet you've been playing a Tele for a while.

What I see happen is, guys make subtle adjustments as they play to cure up notes that would otherwise be sharp or flat a bit. And/or they instinctively avoid playing passages in a part of the fretboard where out of tune notes would sound out; they work around chords and note sequences that naturally sound sour.

They've gotten so adept at it, they don't even recognize what they're doing.

I am starting to feel like, these Joe Barden saddles are too slanted to work for the majority of guys. They're "too compensated" and they would throw a wrench in what the seasoned players have been doing for too long to be trying to change, I suspect, at least in some cases.

Very good point. I try not to analyse my playing too much - but I've been playing my Tokai with the same threaded saddles for nearly 30 years, they rusted up long ago so I hadn't been able to set the intonation for years... Didn't matter I guess like you say I was compensating myself.

Well, I finally broke one of the saddles trying to adjust the height, just broke in two, rusty as hell, so I thought I'd try the wilkinson compensated saddles everyone keeps raving about... I really like the sound of the brass saddles, much nicer, but I can't say I've noticed the intonation being noticeably better - or worse - I tend to try and get it near with a tuner then get bored and just end up doing it by ear... As long as its near, eh?... I dunno, so many things you do when your playing effect everything else...