Floyd intonation

[Electric]

I have an SL2H. I am now tuning to C standard, and I strung it up with 11-56 strings. Is it possible to run out of intonation room on the bridge? I have the 6th string saddle back as far as it will go, and it is still a little off. I can deal with it if it is impossible to achieve perfect intonation with the heavy strings, but I would like to know if it is possible.

[toejam]

Re: Floyd intonation

That's somewhat common when tuning down low.

[Electric]

Re: Floyd intonation

I guess that is why baritone guitars were created then... thanks for the reply.

[toejam]

Re: Floyd intonation

No problem. It's not always the rule, but it definitely seems a little more common with lower tunings.
Then again, my Warrior had 10-46 standard tuning, then I put on 11-48 and went down to D, even had it in Drop C for a little while, and the saddles didn't even need to be moved at all, and I've still got room to move them back. My string-thru Dinky I also use 11-48 in D, sometimes Drop C, and still have room to move the saddles back more.
On the other side of the coin, I've got a Fender Strat hardtail that came with 9-42 and had a problem with the low string saddle not intonating perfectly even all the way back in standard E. I've now got the guitar set up with 10-46 in Eb, still not perfect. If I take the little spring off, I'll be able to move the saddle a tiny bit more and it probably will be perfect. Lowering the action helps a little, too.

[Overlord]

Re: Floyd intonation

One thing that may help is to check the neck relief (bowing). I have a Ibanez Destroyer that went a bit out of intonation with the changing seasons. I also ran out of adjustment on the sixth string. After I reset the relief to .010" using a feeler gauge, I was able to move the sixth string saddle so that I still have about 3/16" adjustment left. My Destroyer has a TOM style bridge and doesn't have very much adjustment room anyway. With a Floyd you may be able get the adjustment required for drop tuning.

[Ace]

Re: Floyd intonation

Your intonation shouldn't change all that much when drop tuning. I use 12's tuned to C on 5 of my guitars, and all of them intonate fine. Make sure that your truss rod is set BEFORE doing any other adjustments. Also check your action, because the farther you have to move the string down to the fretboard the sharper you are going to pull fretted note.

[Electric]

Re: Floyd intonation

My action was already as low as it could be without buzz, but I did adjust the truss rod a bit more than I already had, and that got it closer. Thanks for the help.