Hello,
I've been reading this forum and found a lot of the conversation thought provoking. Some of the books that are referenced such
as Gore and Gilet have been influential in my work. One of the places where I felt these books lacked was a proper solution to intonation problems.
The process described by Gore and Gilet involves either using a formula or creating a guitar mockup on a rail with the exact amount of string tension. We found both of these methods to be lacking. If the amount of compensation is found by using a forumula, then translating it onto the gutiar will be hard. Shaving away precise amounts of the nut and saddle is not easy to achieve. Another factor that we have to take into account is the humidity changes that occur season to season. These will change the guitar and the intonation will be off.
I have invented a new bridge and saddle design that provides adjustable compensation. Here is what they look like.
It's a simple idea with a lot of precise routing behind it. The bridge saddle nuts can move in the channels. Each nut sits on it's own plate that can be removed. When the strings are off there's a spring that holds the nut in it's position. They can be moved back and forth with a small fork tool with the string tension on. The split nuts can be removed and changed with a screwdriver. There is a magnet holding it in place when the strings are off. This is how it works in short. We use a CNC to make the peices of the bridge.
I wrote up a full article exploring the problem of intonation and how to correct it. It's too long to post in it's entirety here. There is a video example of intonating the bridge and changing the saddles at the end.
fine guitar Intonation
