Improving intonation on a nylon

[Paul Conway]

Hi guys

My Takamine nylon has a straight saddle with no compensation. I'm thinking that the octave intonation could be better. Has anyone worked on the saddle of a nylon to do this? Any hints? Will it affect the plugged-in tone?

Cheers

[Nuclearfishin]

I build classicals and it's no problem at all to file the top of the saddle to correct intonation. It shouldn't affect your tone at all as long as you stick to the top of the saddle. If you file the bottom to adjust setup, be very careful to file dead flat otherwise the saddle won't sit correctly in the bridge and then you will have problems.

[David Collins]

Which string or strings are having problems, and what type of strings are you using? It's worth noting that intonation on classicals is often best set for a particular make/tension of strings.

[Paul Conway]

I'm using Savarez Alliance. Hard tension.

[David Collins]

Are you noticing any distinct intonation issues on any strings or areas? Often a straight saddle will work just fine for nylons, though some may benefit from one or two strings being compensated. If any strings do need intonation adjustment, shaping the top of the saddle accordingly won't effect pickup response (assuming everything else such as break angle is in acceptable range). Of course it will often require lowering the strings slightly in order to keep the top even.

[Paul Conway]

12th fret harmonic on the B is flat compared to the fretted note. A couple of the others are sharp.