Intonation and tuning of the Classical Guitar
The intonation of a classical guitar is a subject that is increasingly being talked about today, both by the players and the makers. There are many and varied reasons as to why intonation adjustment is necessary on classical guitars, but it is necessary for an isntrument to play in tune, especially if it is to be enjoyed by the players and audience. Many guitars do not play in tune and the causes of this can be many and varied. A guitar that does not play in tune will usually suffer from more than one of these problems. An understanding of what is happening is necessary and with this article I hope to make the subject a bit clearer for all of those who enjoy the classical guitar.
Many players do not realise that their guitar does not actually play in tune until they play in an ensemble with other instruments. At this point in time they are usually embarrased to discover that their beloved instrument is far from perfect. Having played the instrument for so long many guitarists have simply accepted their instrument for what it is and how it plays. It is only when it is directly compared to another instrument that is in tune, that the problems become obvious. The truth of the matter is that a large number of guitars do not play in tune at all. Some of the factors that are important for a guitar to play in tune will be covered in this article.
Some of these factors can cause major problems while others cause minor problems and some of these can actually be overcome by the player, while playing the instrument. The good guitarist is aware of the problems with the instrument and makes adjustments accordingly. How the guitarist plays the guitar is actually an important factor and should not be overlooked at all. It is possible for the player to make many of the adjustments that are necessary, but if the owner/player is not technically minded, then they should take the guitar to a qualified maker/repairer to have it adjusted. The problems may be as simple as a saddle compensation, and can be as complicated as fret placement, scale length inaccuracies, and nut and saddle incorectly set. These issues are all covered in the following pages.
