Tuning Question

[RichLich]

I have a new Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster. It was hard to tune and was buzzing on the low E / 6th string until the truss rod was adjusted 1/8th of a turn, the saddle for that buzzing string adjusted slightly, and strings replaced (Ernie Ball Super Slinky). Those problems are gone. Now, however, when I check the tuning an octave above the open string, every string is about a nickel sharp. How do I fix this?

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

It's called "intonation"

Adjusted buy moving your bridge saddles back a bit to lengthen the string

[Old Guy]

19 hours ago, Eracer_Team-DougH said:

It's called "intonation"

Adjusted buy moving your bridge saddles back a bit to lengthen the string

Absolutely this.

Something else to check is how the strings sit in the nut. If the nut is pinching the strings, when you bend the strings, it could influence the intonation. When you change strings, I would recommend using graphite dust from a pencil to lubricate the nut. If there is a nut issue, you can gently try to sand the slots by putting very high grit sandpaper around the string with the gauge of that nut slot, or one string gauge higher. If you're not comfortable doing that, I'm sure a good tech could take care of that. That is generally included in a "Pro Set Up".

[Six String]

22 hours ago, Old Guy said:

Absolutely this.

Something else to check is how the strings sit in the nut. If the nut is pinching the strings, when you bend the strings, it could influence the intonation. When you change strings, I would recommend using graphite dust from a pencil to lubricate the nut. If there is a nut issue, you can gently try to sand the slots by putting very high grit sandpaper around the string with the gauge of that nut slot, or one string gauge higher. If you're not comfortable doing that, I'm sure a good tech could take care of that. That is generally included in a "Pro Set Up".

I have had success using a very fine polishing hone from a knife sharpening set to for this task. 

As Old Guy notes, this is something you could mess up, so the finer grit the better and go very slow if you try it yourself. The idea is to polish smooth not remove any material. A tech will have the correct round files for the job which you could buy, but would probably cost as much or more as having the tech do it for you.

[Six String]

On 12/21/2018 at 12:32 PM, RichLich said:

I have a new Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster. It was hard to tune and was buzzing on the low E / 6th string until the truss rod was adjusted 1/8th of a turn, the saddle for that buzzing string adjusted slightly, and strings replaced (Ernie Ball Super Slinky). Those problems are gone. Now, however, when I check the tuning an octave above the open string, every string is about a nickel sharp. How do I fix this?

This is part of what I was talking about with my Classic Vibe.  With two strings sharing each saddle you will not be able to get every string intonated properly.  It is a balancing act to get them close enough.  Some guitars you can do that and some maybe not. It is an issue with all Fenders with Vintage style saddles where two strings share one bridge so you can't intonate each string individually.  In my case even after getting them as close as possible with the stock saddles I sometimes could hear annoying tones in chords that I knew was at least partly due to less than perfect intonation.

The Tele has been around a long time and several methods to improve intonation have evolved.  In the early days some simply took pliers and bent the adjustment screw to angle the saddle to improve intonation between strings.  This has obvious drawbacks, but was the old school way to address the design short coming.

Later, saddles with angled screw holes were developed so you didn't have to bend the screw and allowed you to fine tweak, because you could still turn the screw.

Finally, saddles with a few cents of intonation built in via the saddle shape came along.  These look very much like the stock saddles as they all sit in a straight line like stock.  These are what I used and were a very welcome improvement on my CV Tele.

https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Music-Company-Compensated-Telecaster/dp/B00NG53AS0/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1545571932&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=Gotoh+intonated+saddles

Edited December 23, 2018 by Six String

[Randy120]

Eracer has the correct answer. You need to lengthen the string at the saddle. Greg Voros does not recommend changing the nut. 

[Greg Voros]

There is a lot going on here folks, with lots of good advice. Keep this in mind as well - the intonation does not have to be 100% perfect to have a functional guitar. By its nature, a vintage Tele is unable to be intonated using the shared saddle system of 2 strings per saddle. This didn't stop the heaviest Tele players from recording some of the most iconic riffs of all time. with that said +/- 1 or 2 cents wont really hurt things unless you are playing up and down the board utilizing almost every note available - and even so, your fret-wear (crown), and fingering of the notes will probably have a greater impact on your notes and the way they sound.

 

I really hope this was of help,

 

Greg V.