Flawless intonation, myth or reality?

My point was that the orchestra is tuned to itself, not to an external 440Hz 'standard' A.

As I've stated earlier in this thread I don't believe that "flawless" intonation is a requirement or achievable. There is something I do expect however. That the builder knows what it takes to get the BEST possible intonation and has made the effort to do so. There are SO many instruments that I have measured up and the nut and saddle were just in the wrong place to begin with. I want to see the nut in the right place, well positioned frets, the saddle in the the ball park and preferably having someone take the time to adjust the saddle for the strings in use.

If its still a little out then I'm not going to be that pedantic but I'm not going to go along with the sentiment that "its just a ukulele and your being too fussy" when the nut and saddle are measurably in the wrong place.

Anthony

For anyone who may be interested... here is a decent discussion of intonation and compensating at both the saddle and nut.

http://www.setitupbetter.com/

Compensated nuts on nylon string ukuleles is probably overkill, but I am planning on a compensated nut on my steel string build. The higher tension and short scale have a significant effect.

Um, that's just not true. The oboist gives the 440 A and there is always a tuner right on the oboists stand confirming the 440. The rest of the orchestra then tunes from the A that the oboe has given. So, yes, every concert I've ever seen (or performed in) has used a 400hz standard A as it's baseline. I believe the standard A is different outside the US, but I've still seen a tuner on the oboist's stand.

Skrik said:

My point was that the orchestra is tuned to itself, not to an external 440Hz 'standard' A.

Click to expand...

I have been practicing to become a better player...as much as possible to be honest...

until I can "play" I really don't think trying to get perfect intonation that important to me(but it has to be close)....I let the builders do it for me....you can spend all day getting your uke to have perfect pitch, but I rather spend time playing/practicing...

my 2 cents...

ok so if I get this straight:

-Perfect intonation is indeed a myth for the most part
-Strings, nut, saddle, and how hard you press the strings are parameters to consider when intonation is "really off" (you can hear it by ear), as well as humidity levels

So I guess my honeymoon with my ukulele is over. I have to admit to it having (gasp ) faults and will work with them!
But no worries, as with all relationships, I still love my ukulele with/despite/because of it's present faults (and future faults... scratch marks, dents etc...)

Thanks to all who replied, this has been really interesting, and I have appreciated all the different points of view!