Grateful Dead Music Forum

Hey guys, so I own a Takamine acoustic/electric, EG330SC, and I've been having this problem with it for a little while. So, I have some strings on it, pretty light strings, and after a while the high E string, as I work my way up the fret board, starts to get more and more flat. All the other strings are fine, its just that one. Now, I've gone and bought new strings a few times, and each time, the high E is perfect again, and its just after a while I start to notice high notes on it sounding flat. Anyone have any idea what the deal is? Should i bring it in to get checked out? And its not like its a half note flat or anything, but it can be significant.

Have you verified this with an electronic tuner?
It's probably more like your thicker guage strings are going sharp as you play up the neck, as it takes more pressure to hold them down against the fret(s).

yes i have, there's no doubt its flat

Well I'm no expert, I've only been at the guitar for a few years, but I'm pretty sure that could be fixed by adjusting the intonation of the string, which I dunno know how to do on an acoustic guitar, but I bet others here would know. Check the bridge piece and see if there's a way to adjust the point where it holds the string.

adjusting the intonation an accoustic is gonna cost you a bit

Unless the bridge is movable, which I doubt, you might have to get a new "saddle" cut for it.

However, intonation changes as guage changes. Try going to a guitar shop and just buying a slightly thicker high E, one of the single packs they sell


I cant actually picture the physics in my head right now, whether that would go to sharpen or flatten the intonation, but for the 2 bucks and 20 minutes it will cost you, its worth the shot.

Panda Licker wrote:adjusting the intonation an accoustic is gonna cost you a bit

Unless the bridge is movable, which I doubt, you might have to get a new "saddle" cut for it.

However, intonation changes as guage changes. Try going to a guitar shop and just buying a slightly thicker high E, one of the single packs they sell


I cant actually picture the physics in my head right now, whether that would go to sharpen or flatten the intonation, but for the 2 bucks and 20 minutes it will cost you, its worth the shot.

good logic here but the high E would have the least impact on the neck. What you'd need to do, theoretically and just for that one string is to shorted the scale - yes, Panda, a heavier gauge.

But what would that do to your other strings?

Are the other strings perfectly intonated?

easiest cheapest thing to do. Get a little piece of paper fold it up enough so it is small enough to fit in the groove for the e string, and not showing much, and it will raise it of the frets a little more

Is it possible your just not stretching out the strings enough when first puttin them on?

BlobWeird wrote:Is it possible your just not stretching out the strings enough when first puttin them on?

that what I thought too, but then I realized he was talking intonation, which means he's going to have to lengthen the length of the string to make it ring true (or as true as it can be) on every fret.

While the paper thing would work, I'd imagine that would absolutely kill your tone for notes. Maybe take it to the guitar shop, explain your problem, and have them cut you a new nut for it, leaving the E string high first and slowly taking the groove deeper and deeper until its intonated properly.

thanks for all the help guys, I'm going to try some of the easier/quicker solutions, and if those don't work, I'll probably be heading into the shop with it.