Intonation

I started out playing piano and studied privately for ten years.  I played trombone starting in fifth grade all the way through college.  I think perhaps these two things contributed to my obsession with intonation and tuning.

In my mind it is inexcusable to be out of tune or not properly intonated.  With the widespread availability and affordability of quality tuners proper intonation and tuning are easily achieved.  Nothing quite says "amateur" like a band out of tune or guitars improperly intonated.

Tuning is pretty straightforward and most of us can handle this.  The problem arises when tuning is not checked frequently.  Personally I check my tuning between every song when playing live and during any break during rehearsals.

Intonation is a little more challenging on the front end but once you understand the basics anyone can do it. I begin by getting each string in tune then I tackle intonation. By fretting the twelfth fret I look at the tuner to see if it is sharp or flat.  If the fretted twelfth fret is sharp then the bridge saddle needs to move back toward the tail of the bass.  By moving the saddle toward the tail of the bass you are lengthening the distance from the saddle to the twelfth fret thereby bringing the fretted string back into tune.  By doing so this then makes the open string flat so tune the open string again.  This is a back and forth process to bring both the open string and the fretted string at the twelfth fret into tune.  Naturally if the fretted twelfth fret is flat then the saddle needs to move forward toward the head stock of the bass and again the tuning of the open string and fretted twelfth fret is performed until both the open string and the twelfth fret are in tune.



Once the strings are intonated I play my bass for a day or two and double check the tuning and intonation.  When I am satisfied that both the tuning and intonation are perfect I reference the strings at both the nut and the saddles.  This is a crucial step many people overlook when installing new strings.  Referencing is done by pushing down on the strings just before the nut and just before where they enter the saddles on the bridge.  This helps the strings stay in tune and is something I truly wish someone had shown me years ago.