Fixing Intonation and Fret Buzz: The Complete Guitar Setup Checklist

The Difference Between Tuning and Intonation

You can spend five minutes dialing in every open string to 0 cents, yet the moment you press an open D chord or a high barre chord, the notes sound sour. That problem is almost always intonation, not tuning.

Intonation dictates whether every fret along the neck produces mathematically accurate pitch based on your bridge saddle placement and scale length.

The 12th Fret Test

Checking your intonation is simple with our built-in Intonation Checker utility:

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1. Pluck the open string and tune it until the green sweet-spot locks at exactly 0 cents.
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2. Fret the same string firmly at the 12th fret and pluck it.
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3. Observe the cents readout:
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• If the 12th fret note is sharp: The string scale length is too short. Turn the saddle screw clockwise to move the saddle backward toward the tailpiece.
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• If the 12th fret note is flat: The scale length is too long. Turn the saddle screw counter-clockwise to shift the saddle forward toward the neck.
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Repeat this test for all six strings until the open note and the 12th fret fretted note read within ±1 cent of each other.