I've got a Kala Acacia Tenor that came with Aquila's. I recently switched strings to Worth Clears with Low G, and it seems like the intonation on the G string is a bit off now (didn't seem to be off before the switch). The G string is a bit sharp now as I go up the fretboard. Thoughts?
It certainly can affect it, especially on smaller instruments. A few years back, my daughter said she wanted to learn the electric guitar. She couldn't get her fingers around my "massive" (standard size) Yamaha Pacifica, so I bought her a cute Les Paul copy that is about 1/2 size. The problem was that the intonation was all over the place. But not on every string. Some were fine! I couldn't figure out why and went to see my local luthier/guitar wizard. He and I then experimented and found that no single set of strings we tried was perfect. The top strings would lose true intonation in some sets, the bottom in others. In the end, we made up a set using different gauges (combining light gauges, medium gauges and heavier gauges) and found the best compromise.
Inevitably, I suppose, My daughter lost interest very quickly after deciding the teacher was boring! (She has always refused to learn anything from me and now she plays two instruments that I don't play - piano & sax ).
So, in short, from my experience I'd say string gauge can play havoc with intonation.
PS I have the little Les Paul by the side of the couch as a decoration now, but pick it up from time to time to practice scales etc, while watching TV.
Is the action at the nut higher than before? Could be because the new string is thicker and might not sit as deep as the old one.
But usually a high action only causes sharpness only at the first few frets, not all the way up - I might be completely on the wrong track here....
Yes, it would affect the intonation. The saddle can be compensated for the heavier low G string, but I would only do that if the intonation is so off that you can't bear it and if you're sure you don't want to switch back to high G. A luthier would shape the saddle to increase the length of the G string slightly.
If you have a removable nut and saddle, it would be good to have a separate set for the low g tuning. You might need the bridge "compensated" and a wider slot in the nut.
).
