Anyone have this problem with their Rick?

[admin]

David: When you get to be myoldoldself, this will not longer be a problem. Dog hearing does not last forever!

[myoldself]

1. The problem is apparent on all strings quite equally... not to worry at the moment... going to get a new setup to accomodate my preferred strings.

2. I'm curious about the wound G idea... that sounds kind of cool.

3. My dog-like hearing better NOT disappear on me... nothing is more pleasing than when you FINALLY hear something perfectly in tune... I'm sure you can all agree. For instance I have an old Danelectro 56-U2 that is perfectly harmonic and it is a pleasure to play and hear.

Once again.. thanks everyone. I'll update you when I get a new setup job! Hope it does the trick.

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

I can hear you, Doctor Phu. I have had the same issues over the years with pressing the first fret sharp but all other frets sing true with the open strings. Keeps you awake remembering the bad chord, wishing you could just press more lightly...

I would try the non-invasive options first, but I'll place my bet on the nut cut.

[steverok]

It's all true ! Although, I don't think intonation has much to do with how well in-tune fretted notes play, near the nut. When you are sharp near the nut, you are often pressing too hard, or, you are not fretting accurately, or, less likely, the nut slots are not cut right. For some chords, you can't press certain strings close to the fret, and, as a result, they can fret sharp. The most notorious problem is that an unwound G frets sharply near the nut, although Fenders and Gibsons are much worse about this, for me, than Rickenbackers are. Switching to heavier guage strings (e.g., 11's) will help this. A wound G nearly eliminates this, although the tone of the string changes, and the intonation changes alot ! With the Ric bridge and springs, I was unable to intonate a wound G string. Since I didn't like the sound as much, and the problem wasn't so bad, I went back to the unwound G, 18 guage.

[silverjet89]

Almost every new guitar I've ever purchased had similar problems when I got it. They ALWAYS need the nut cut lower. Most need a neck adjustment and intonation set too as all these affect tuning. I had to do all three when I first got my 660/12. Now it plays fantastic anywhere on the neck.

Pick the gauge/type of string you will be using and find a GOOD guitar tech. About 50% of the techs I've dealt with can't even do a decent set up. It's sad.
I learned how to do it myself years ago because no one else could get it right.

[myoldself]

Kirk, when you say "they always need the nut cut lower", do you mean in height? or in distance to the fret?

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

Cutting the nut lower is to deepen the grooves closer to the board.

[silverjet89]

Yeah, what Mark said.
If the grooves are too high the string will bend sharp as you push it down to fret a note. This is particularly noticeable on open chords, especially a D.

[mfb]

NEVER cut the grooves in the nut lower unless you know exactly what you are doing and you have exhausted all other possibilities.

The problem is that you have changed the gauge of the strings on your guitar, after it was set up for a certain gauge.

That seemingly mundane action will affect the neck bow and the intonation of the instrument thus you will have to set the neck and intonation of the guitar to the new gauge.

I have many, many guitars, all of different makes, sizes and styles. I have set up each and every single one of them to my playing style and the gauges that I prefer. Without exception, I have found that the relationship between the neck bow, string gauge, bridge/saddle height and saddle position is the MAJOR reason why an inaccurately set guitar will play out of tune somewhere on the neck when other neck positions ring "true".

To check my guitars for a pleasing "tuned" sound at every position all I need to do is play an open D chord in first position and an open D chord in the 12th position, then do the same for the E chord.

You will find that if these chords ring "true" at those positions, then the guitar's neck, bridge height, saddle position and string gauge are all set as well as it can be averaged out.

Deepening the nut could cause you more problems IF the guitar isn't set correctly for the chosen string gauge in the first place.

[jwr2]

for my taste the nut should put the strings about the same height off of the fretboard as a zero fret ... I have an old 60s acoustic guitar with a zero fret and it it easy to tune and play ...

I had a hamer les paul and the nut was a little high and it always sounded a little out of tune ...