Thomastic a string intonation

[mandocaster]

I put on a set of Stark TI's tonight. What great tone! What flat intonation on the a strings. Either I will have to replace the saddle or use conventional plain a's. A pity, I loved the sound of those wound a's.

Anyone know where I can get a blank bridge top?

[Mr. Loar]

What was the string gauge of the set you took off? You may have to adjust the intonation a little. The TI's must be different in thickness than the old set.

[mandocaster]

The D'addario J74 set that I normally use has a plain steel .015" a string
The TI set has a flatwound .015

THe intonation is related to the diameter of the core. In the case of a plain string, just the diameter of the string. I suspect that the core of the TI is .010 or even smaller.

I was hoping that the intonation difference would be acceptable, but I can't stand it. I don't think I will be able to sound in tune with anybody else.

[Mr. Loar]

Sorry you have to go through this. Maybe the TI's won't work out for you. If it was me, I'd be moving the bridge around trying to get the intonation just right.

[mandocaster]

I wish that would help. The bridge is cut for a plain a string. I could make the wound a play in tune, but it would throw the others out.

[Tim2723]

Hi Mitch,

Sorry you're having this problem, and sorrier still that I can't help, but just out of curiousity, how much did the intonation change? Were you able to measure it with a tuner? Do you notice the problem more when chording or when playing lead?

[mandocaster]

It is not very noticeable in lower positions, but it gets bad above the 8th fret. Chords sound sour, crosspicking up the neck with the open e sounds awful. It is probably 10 cents flat at the 12th fret, although I havent measured it.