Compensated Nut Too Much For 3 Saddle Tele?

[JaySwear]

so my initial thought after ordering my telecaster neck was "damn, i should have gone with a compensated nut to help with intonation!" i was disappointed for a few minutes until i thought, with a compensated 3 saddle bridge, would a compensated nut ALSO be too much compensation? seems like it might knock the intonation TOO far out of whack by trying to correct it. one or the other might work well, but both?

anyway, i'd love to hear thoughts. since i ordered the neck last night after hours i know that nothing will be done until monday morning, and if i wanted to i could call first thing when they opened. thoughts or experiences? thanks!

 

[Cagey]

It's not an either/or situation. The compensated nut works together with a compensated bridge to make things right. The problem you're going to have is if you're using the traditional 3 saddle Tele bridge, it's poorly compensated. That means the compensated nut isn't going to work as well as it's supposed to, so it's a waste of money.

If you haven't bought the bridge yet for this project, you might want to keep the Earvana nut and get a better bridge such as one of these Gotoh units...

They run between $50 and $60 at Stewart-MacDonald's, or about 10% less at Warmoth.

Even if you don't keep the Earvana, that's a much better bridge.

 

[JaySwear]

well, i'll be using compensated saddles as well. most likely from rutters, the stainless steel ones. i'm just curious if having two things trying to do the same thing would be too much in this case.

 

[jay4321]

Not familiar with the 3-saddle tele bridges as I use 6, but by "compensated 3-saddle" I'm confused. Can you adjust the string length of each individual string somehow? Or just in pairs like normal 3-saddle bridges.

With the Earvana I'd think you'd want to be able to match the bridge saddles for each string, to where the Earvana and your setup dictates is intonated. If you're compensating both ends with different systems that could get screwy pretty fast I'd think. That's like trimming a 2x4 at both ends using different measures.

I guess it could miraculously be possible that it works out, but doubt it.

 

[jay4321]

thinking about that was like dividing by zero, you're compensating what's already compensated

*head asplode*

 

[Cagey]

He's talking about these saddles...

[Source]

Which are better than the standard Tele saddles, but there's not the fine adjustment possible that you get with individual string saddles. As a result, you're never tuned as well as you could be. Of course, that's also true of standard guitar setups even with individually compensating saddles, which is why the Earvana exists. The two parts then work together to get you closer to correct.

The Earvana is a small correction. Without individual string adjustments at the bridge, the compensated nut is going to be a waste of time/money. It's not going to fight with the bridge or over-compensate anything, it's just not going to do as much good as it could.

 

[JaySwear]

thinking about that was like dividing by zero, you're compensating what's already compensated

*head asplode*

haha i know what you mean, i figured i'd start a thread so it gave everybody else a headache too...

anyway these are compensated saddles. they're made this way so they kind of mimic the adjustments you'd make to a 6 saddle bridge. i've heard they're anywhere from "close" to "dead accurate" depending on who's writing the review and what company made them

 

[swarfrat]

Actually I don't view the Earvana as 'the final 10%' in getting intonation right. In essence, you're compensating either end of guitar. If your bridge intonation is off, your intonation gets worse the higher up the fretboard you go. The Earvana in essence is compensating for the string pressure required to mash down the string to the fret in the first few frets. The higher your action or string gauge, the shorter the scale, the more it makes a difference.

As far as I can find, Stephen Delft's article seems to be the internet authority on it.  Check out this Guild Bluesbird with heavy strings and lap steel action.

 

[tfarny]

My best sounding and most in-tune guitar has the compensated saddle barden bridge and an aftermarket drop-in earvana. As long as you don't have perfect pitch (and since you play guitar, you probably don't) I think they work great together.

 

[jay4321]

When you adjust string length at the bridge you're sort of compensating one way or the other.

The bigger intonation problems I was concerned about were where just the cowboys chords/open strings area, which the Earvana tunes up pretty well. Minor intonation issues higher up the board aren't nearly as big a concern for me. I'm much more apt to notice an open Am is out of whack than I would a few solo notes up around the high end of the fretboard, especially when going by quickly.

I've gone over that Stephen Delft article several times before. I tried to contact her a couple of times (yes, it's a her) with no luck, was interested in the 12-string compensated nut specs. It's Simcha Delft.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I would think the compensated Tele saddle pieces would not work well with an Earvana compensated nut.  I think it is an either or thing.  The bridges I've seen that were used with a compensated nut did not have the usual intonated pattern on the bridge I'm used to seeing; they were straighter.  As for which would work better with the Earvana nut, don't know. 

 

[bob7point7]

If you want to keep the 3 saddle construction but you're worried about what impact the earvana nut may have, you could go with the Wilkinson adjustable compensated bridge:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/Electric_guitar_saddles/Wilkinson_Adjustable_Compensated_Bridge_for_Tele.html

The saddles swivel, so you shouldn't have any trouble intonating.