Intonation

Posted by Paul Doug on October 2, 2013 at 11:04am

I want to put a stationary bridge one the face of the ukulele I am building.  Do I need to be concerned about "intonation" if I put the bridge at the fret scale I specified?  I don't know much about this, my son was the on that brought it up.  He plays guitar.

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Paul Doug October 2, 2013 at 4:15pm

    "reentrant", thanks, learned a new term, had to look it up.  Always learn something new when I get  on here.  That's a good thing.  I guess one other question, how do you setup a temporary tailpiece?  Doesn't that change things a little?  The strings are going over the saddle at a different angle than they will when they are attached to the permanent bridge.  Maybe that doesn't matter.

    Really appreciate the input guys.  I'm a musical dummy.

    • terry harris > Paul Doug October 2, 2013 at 9:33pm

      I set up the "tailpiece" on the strap button hole.

      I don't know if it matters....just don't know

       and

      you ain't no dummy! Where's one of those smiley things when you need one

  • Jillian Holladay October 2, 2013 at 2:35pm

    I love this discussion. I am willing to bet that the cigar box ukes we build have better intonation than most store bought ones. Building by hands, hearts, and minds that care makes a world of difference.

    • terry harris > Jillian Holladay October 2, 2013 at 9:34pm

      I'm bettin you are right!

  • Chuck Cobillas October 2, 2013 at 1:34pm
    Paul,

    When I build mine I always leave the bridge un-attached until I actually string it up and tune it, then I make a small reference mark when I get it right. Most of the time I don't have to remove the strings, just back them off a bit and use something to temporarily keep the strings out of the way until I have the bridge permanently attached (glued, screwed, etc)

    Hope this helps.
  • terry harris October 2, 2013 at 12:37pm

    Ya, you should have some "compensation" at the bridge. There is a great fret calculator by Stewart McDonald that can give you a pretty good approximate for compensation at the bridge. It's worked for me pretty well. Strings, fret height, string height and stuff like that can influence compensation too. 

    http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator

    • Paul Doug > terry harris October 2, 2013 at 1:10pm

      Yes, Stewart McDonald is the calculator I use.  I'm wondering if attaching the bridge with small screws  through slightly slotted holes to allow for a little adjustment might be worth trying (?).  Although I have read some articles where it says on ukuleles that with nylon strings, and the fret length there will not be perfect intonation, and it is not as big a deal as it is on a guitar.

      Thank for the reply.

    • terry harris > Paul Doug October 2, 2013 at 1:30pm

      Well, with the short neck instruments and all intonation is always a problem, never quite perfect. One thing I've done with the cigar box stuff is put down that green tape, set the bridge in place strung up and marked on the tape where the sweet spot is (this is all with a temporary tail piece) and then glued down the bridge on the marks. I use thru the bridge stringing method.On my standard type ukes I've been using the stewmac calc and then building compensation into the saddle. This has been the most accurate for me. I mostly have had to compensate on  the A string and G string on the reenterant ukes

This reply was deleted.