Intontation Question

wildhorse · #1 08-20-2009, 01:55 PM

Sorry if this is covered in here somewhere, I can't find it.
I bought the Sonic Research ST-200 Strobe Tuner and last night went to set the intonation on my Bass. This is the only area of set up I've never done before other than on a guitar with a regular tuner. (Not accurate I know) But what I experience was that when moving the bridge saddles forward I noticed that they didn't move and that the screw was coming out away from the bridge. In order to make them work and the string go flat I had to loosen the strings then move them way forward and work backwards. Going sharp worked fine. I found the reason for this is the pressure of the strings on the saddles being to muh for the springs to handle when moving them forward. Is this normal? Can better springs be used for the bridge? It's intonated fine now but just curious if this is normal proceedure or if the springs can be upgraded without upgrading the bridge entirely.

Thanks for any advice.

electracoyote · #2 08-20-2009, 01:57 PM

Next time, if the adjustment screws come back out of the bridge assembly, just give them a push with the screwdriver and the saddle moves forward under the string. That saves you the trouble of loosening the string and manually moving the saddle.

Craig_S · #3 08-20-2009, 02:19 PM

After you push the screw/saddle forward, give the screw a 1/4 turn clockwise (tighter). This will snug up the screw, just a bit, so it doesn't vibrate.

JustDavid · #4 08-20-2009, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildhorse

Is this normal?

I don't know "normal" but I would say it's pretty common.

I don't mind it. If I did lots & lots of intonations I might change my tune though.

wildhorse · #5 08-20-2009, 08:53 PM

Thanks everyone. This sounds common. Next I'll try may MIA Peavey Bass and see what happens. Great advise from everyone.

Ground Pounder · #6 08-20-2009, 09:07 PM

Another thing to check - take a look at the saddles where the strings pass over, and look at the plate where the height adjustment screws make contract. Sounds like you may have some slight grooves or burrs that could be impeding movement - easy enough to just lightly file out with a small set of $5 jewelers diamond files from Harbor Freight.

wildhorse · #7 08-22-2009, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ground Pounder

Another thing to check - take a look at the saddles where the strings pass over, and look at the plate where the height adjustment screws make contract. Sounds like you may have some slight grooves or burrs that could be impeding movement - easy enough to just lightly file out with a small set of $5 jewelers diamond files from Harbor Freight.

Nice thanks.
I was wondering why it did it on the E and D strings but not the A and G