Saddle position seems weird...

[slide2xxx]

I got this MIM strat that's (maybe) a bit strange:
To get the intonation correct, The E and A saddles have to move way forward. Also the g saddle had to be moved forward a lot.

You know - usually the saddles of a correctly intonated guitar will have the same basic "shape" (E-D lenghts increasinlgy shorter, then a step back and g-e lengths increasingly shorter again) - right?

What could be the reason that this shape is out of whack on my guitar to get the intonation correct?

I mean, it's probably not that much of a problem since that may be why the saddles are adjustable, but I guess I've never seen it before...
:-)

[walterw]

usually this means something else is out, like the action is way high or (most likely) the strings themselves are old or bad.

[slide2xxx]

Action is pretty normal...Strings are not that old, but could be it.
Gonna give it a try.

[mellecaster]

My first inclination would be to try a New Set of Brand name strings.

[Sweetfinger]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

My first inclination would be to try a New Set of Brand name strings.

And that brand name should not have the letters "D" or "R" next to each other.
Also- pickups that are adjusted too close to the strings will knock your intonation out.

[walterw]

+1, and +1.

[mwm523]

Originally Posted by Sweetfinger

And that brand name should not have the letters "D" or "R" next to each other.

What is it about those guys that they can't make a good D string???

[walterw]

they're usually fine, but bad strings seem to happen more often than others, maybe because the round core makes it easy to tear the wraps loose from the core wire when stringing (especially if you do a bunch of string "stretching").

[Chris Scott]

Had whack stuff like this happen with some "boutique" wire a while back.

...the brand was aceite de culebra, to be more than a tad cryptic

[Mike Fleck]

Wondering if new strings were the fix. If not, lower the pickups and intonate it. Sometime issues like this can come up when pickups are too close to the strings and the mags are affecting the string movement. Good Luck.

[slide2xxx]

Seems to have been a combination of old strings and a little odd bridge placement.
The bridge floated at about 5mm over the body.
I returned it to around 3mm which is my usual spec, changed the strings and intonated it again.
After that all looked normal except for the E string which was waaay out of whack so I replaced that string again just to be sure and now it seems to work out fine.
It's odd - I've been using D'Addarios for years and years now and this was the first time that the *strings* were giving me problems.
Since both sets came from a set of 3...maybe it was bad batch or something.

[slide2xxx]

Anyways, thanks to all!
Great to have a place like Gearpage...

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by slide2xxx

It's odd - I've been using D'Addarios for years and years now and this was the first time that the *strings* were giving me problems.
Since both sets came from a set of 3...maybe it was bad batch or something.

That's the very reason I quit using D'Addarios in my Shop about 7 yrs. ago.

But....many of my Customers still swear by them and will use nothing else ?

I just swear AT them !

[Chris Scott]

To be fair to D'addario, they have had an issue w/ counterfeit strings, and I know that they insist that you bring ANY issues regarding their strings to their attention, so that they can track it, as well as replace them immediately.

Had some problems once, and they were way cool. I've used them in my shop forever with only this one issue.

...sorry - kinda off-topic, but not so much.

[natmiss]

If you see D'addario strings on the net for way cheap, buyer beware! Probably counterfeit.
Same holds for Ernie Ball, Martin, GHS and all other mainstream strings. Spend the extra lousy TWO BUCKS and buy from a STORE!