Sudden PRS Intonation issue

[cmc2878]

For some reason my A string has gone waaay out of intonation. To the point where I can't play above the 10th fret.

I recently changed to DR strings but I assume I would have noticed it immediately had the issue been strings.

The stop tailpiece has never given me issues before.

I don't feel like sending it out to a tech, Is this something I can easily remedy?

By adjusting the A string's intonation will that set the other strings off...or will it compensate?

 

[Rosewood]

I've have had many intonation problems with Dr strings, try a different brand and I think your problem will go away or at least try several sets of DR's. I only setup guitars with Dr strings when the customer demands it. I should add that you may be able to set the intonation with the Dr's but if it doesn't work out try another brand.

 

[empty71]

I'm with Rosewood and am 99% sure it's the DR strings. They're pretty inconsistent.

 

[cmc2878]

I wonder if DR's "compression winding" technique adversely affects intonation.

If a .42 string has the density of a .43 that could effect the tension required to come to pitch thereby affecting intonation.

 

[FourT6and2]

I wonder if DR's "compression winding" technique adversely affects intonation.

If a .42 string has the density of a .43 that could effect the tension required to come to pitch thereby affecting intonation.

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Density doesn't affect tension with relation to a string.

 

[sinasl1]

I have problems, and have had problems with DR's in the past for sure, with the core slipping through the wind and intonation going haywire.. mainly on D strings. If it was ok before and suddenly is squirrely, I'd bet it's the string(s).

It is annoying, because I don't always remember... more than once I've gone nuts trying to intonate a guitar and then in frustration changing the strings and voila, problem solved.

 

[FFTT]

Try another set of strings and see how it looks.

If you're still having issues with intonation, you may need to check
the neck for a slight seasonal adjustment.

Changes in temperature and humidity over the year tends to affect the neck
to various degrees.

So if you haven't touched the neck, it may be due for some slight tweaking.

 

[JimH]

Seems a bit weird if all of a sudden, anyway if not the string then just set the intonation. Tune to pitch and if the 12 fretted note is flat move the saddle forward - ie toward the nut. If sharp then move it in the opposite direction until precisely one octave the open string.

 

[Doodad]

I just had a similar experience and was blaming the guitar. Mainly G for me buzzing at the neck. I figured change in temps as it sits out.

But, they were DR strings.

 

[NatDeroxL7]

For some reason my A string has gone waaay out of intonation. To the point where I can't play above the 10th fret.

I recently changed to DR strings but I assume I would have noticed it immediately had the issue been strings.

The stop tailpiece has never given me issues before.

I don't feel like sending it out to a tech, Is this something I can easily remedy?

By adjusting the A string's intonation will that set the other strings off...or will it compensate?

DR strings are teh good for tone, but teh suck for intonation

If you like DR Pure Blue strings, switch to Snake Oil Strings, Vintage style. I used to use both, all snake oils on my not-LPs, and all DR blues on my LPs, but then I decided to go and use the same strings on all my guitars, so I figured out a custom gauge set that would work for everything, and switched to all Snake Oils. Great tone, great feel, and they intonate much better.

If you like DR Tite-Fit strings or whatever they are, I have nothing to offer cause I never used em.......just switch to snake oil vintage anyways

 

[dankayaker]

I stopped using DR's for that reason.

 

[cmc2878]

Well, Seems like the consensus is that it's the strings.

Can anyone recommend strings with a similar tone to the Pure Blues?

 

[NatDeroxL7]

^^^ up two posts

 

[BBQLS1]

I had a similar problem that was driving me out of my mind with the G. Couldn't get it to intonate. I changed the G and all was well.

The strings were DRs. I love the way they sound, but I don't think they are consistent. I'm trying SOBs now and am digging them.

 

[Julia343]

I've stayed with Dean Markley Blue Steels and D'Addario and not had intonation problems. They're consistent from set to set.

Of course I am having an intonation problem on my LP with a .012 - .054 set (using a plain .020 G w/o issue) I've reached the limit of the Tune-o-matic on the E6 string and it's a little sharp at 12, but I'm not really using it up there.

I'll be having SOBs put on my Schecter since that one will use a custom set, and SOB will make a custom set: .0095, .0115, .016, .028, .038, .049

 

[slipbeer]

I'll also call the DR's the issue and go with Snake Oils as a good option to get the same (actually better) feel.

I used DR's for quite awhile and then ran into some similar issues on a Les Paul. I took it to a tech for a setup and they basically said they didn't really change a thing except for throwing on a new set of somebody else's strings and the problem disappeared and never came back...until I threw on a set of DR's that I had laying around.

I figured I had just bought a couple of sets from a batch that had been handled badly or something.

 

[sinasl1]

I'm talking out my butt here- but aren't DR's round core? So my theory on the wound strings is the core can slip through the wind making things go wacky with intonation...

 

[NatDeroxL7]

I'm talking out my butt here- but aren't DR's round core? So my theory on the wound strings is the core can slip through the wind making things go wacky with intonation...

Interesting, so maybe like, the core is tuned to A# and the windings to Ab and it comes out to A......

these musical instrument things are all crazy, I think any guitar tech has to be half witch-doctor and half scientist.

 

[hunter]

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Density doesn't affect tension with relation to a string.

I know thread drift but the pitch of a string is a function of the tension and the mass per unit length. The mass per unit length is a function of the density. Ergo....

As for the intonation issue, don't know DRs but I'd swap out the string(s) giving problems.

hunter