Installed damper near nut = neccessary re-intonating?

Stealth · #1 03-18-2009, 01:15 AM

While recently trying to restore/improve my tapping skills I came upon the method Chapman Stick players use - there's a damper near the nut that kills sustain one you pull off from a fretted to an open string.

So, to simulate something like that, I cut up a mousepad (which, incidentally, is exactly thick enough to cover the gap between the fingerboard and the strings) and... it does the trick, but when checking the sound with a few tapped chords (and following one of Myung's tracks for tapping practice) I noticed the high notes are way, way, WAY off, while the bass side is relatively untouched.

The mousepad is now stuck to the nut, covering up about 15mm towards the first fret - could it be that I managed to disrupt the intonation, and if so, is there ANY way to compensate for that by re-intonating?

JustDavid · #2 03-18-2009, 03:23 PM

Recent damper thread:

How can I use a mute and stay in tune?

Stealth · #3 03-18-2009, 03:41 PM

Don't know how I missed that one. Off to read. Thank you.

Edit: Well, read through the whole bunch and while there's quality material on other damping systems, I'm wondering if anyone ever tried exactly what I did, though... "The mute is not supposed to alter intonation in any way. If it does then it presses too hard." was a quote from that thread so maybe there's my hint, maybe I should shave off a layer of the foam and see.

Failing that, I might give the bass a re-intonation this weekend to see how it goes.

JustDavid · #4 03-18-2009, 03:57 PM

I 'subscribed' to it; good stuff on a topic I'd tried & gave up on.

I'm with ya; tried to truly dampen the string instead of the delicate touch described. What reminded me was the 'pillowfull of dampening material' comment.

Yet to try the recommendations. I was doing Old Standards when I was experimenting; Classic Rock doesn't want it as much