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Recording King Nickel Style-0 Biscuit Resonator Acoustic Guitar - Roundhole Cone

Question: Every string is sharp 10-12 cents: Can that bridge/ assembly be moved slightly front or back to get it closer to 0 cents average? If so, what is the method (methods) to slightly move it froe or aft?

Back Story: A friend asked me if I could smooth the sharp fret ends on a brand-new Recording King Nickel Style-0 Resonator; Frets were sharp and horribly finished. I took the strings off, smoothed the fret ends and polished the frets. As a side note, the edges of the FB were also horribly scalloped between the fret ends, both bass and treble edges, 1st to 14th frets. Fret tops were never crowned either.

Checking the intonation afterwards, it was some 10-12 cents sharp on every string. I didn't check intonation before so I don't know if removing the strings allowed the bridge to move.

Can that bridge/ assembly be moved slightly front or back to get it closer to 0 cents average? If so, what is the method (methods) to slightly move it fore or aft?

_________________
Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

Most resonators that I have worked on have the break point of the saddle at exactly the scale length, they do not have any compensation added. That works perfectly fine for playing slide since you don't stretch the string, but as you say on fretted notes it will make them very sharp, particularly as you play up the neck.

I'm assuming this is a biscuit bridge instrument - if so the saddle is normally a piece of maple glue into a slot in the maple biscuit. You could cut the saddle piece of and mill a slot a little farther away from the nut and install a new saddle. You would have to decide whether to angle the slot (which will help intonation but make it necessary to angle the slide slightly) or make it perpendicular to the strings and just shift it farther away.

I have seen a commercially made biscuit with the slot moved but I don't remember where. When I built my tri cone I moved the cones about 1/16 but did not angle the saddle, that is a nice compromise for fretted and slide,

A couple of more things to remember about resonators - you have a very small amoung of action adjustment at the saddle, you can lower it slightly by deeping the slots but you still have to have clearance around the palm rest. On most resonators you set the actual action by shimming the neck stick (very much like a banjo). Again you will be faced with a compromise between fretted and slide play, the higher you adjust the action for slide the worse you will make the intonation.

Edit - here is a compensated biscuit from NRP

https://www.nationalguitars.com/product ... d-base-kit

Recording King cones were not the best in the world, you might consider a NRP cone too

Thank you for the insight on fretting, I hadn't considered that.
I will ask him if the intonation is bothersome to him. If it is, I'll measure the "1/2 scale" lengths and might try loosening the screws on the top and see if there is any amount of "nudge" available.
And I added "biscuit " to the text, thanks.

_________________
Measure Twice,

Karl Borum