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Slide setup and fretboard intonation

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(@fastatkins)
Active Member
Joined: 13 years ago
Posts: 3
Topic starter  

As a slide player I like to retain the ability to comp along the changes no matter how elaborate.

I've spent a lot of time re-learning chord grips to accomodate both the open E tuning and the fact that my 3rd finger is bound in brass.

HOWEVER. After setting my action up really high for a nice pure slide tone I have noticed the intonation is pretty poor for fretted chords. Even after lots of tweaking there is still dissonance.

Is this just a reality of having very high action?


   
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(@blue-jay)
Noble Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 1630
 

I think so, other players complain. :| IMO, the distance that you push to fret a note stretches the string.

It would be helpful to know if it is electric or acoustic, probably electric, and you have some adjustment. :?

Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.


   
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(@noteboat)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 4921
 

It's just a reality of a high setup.

Think about it this way... imagine you're pushing that string down to the fret. Now rotate that image 90º - you're bending the string that much. Just like doing a regular string bend, except in a different direction.

Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL


   
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 Crow
(@crow)
Honorable Member
Joined: 14 years ago
Posts: 549
 

You can mitigate that reality somewhat by using heavier strings. All my guitars are strung with .012s with action set so that I can slide or fret, and they intonate well. Not perfectly. It seems to be a question of finding that sweet spot between extremes of string height. Sweet spot is bigger with stouter strings.

"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa


   
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