Fretted notes are not correct.

Hi - new player here. I'm having a "problem" in that my fretted notes are sharper than they should be. For example, fretting the A string at the 5th fret produces a note that is sharper than the D that I would expect. This is happening on both of my guitars (electric and acoustic) but more pronounced on my acoustic. Among other annoyances, this means I cannot reliably tune manually. Is this purely due to the travel of the string to the fretboard? Or is something else potentially wrong here? Anything to check here apart from the action (which I believe is normal)? Is this even something I should worry about?

Hey & welcome!

Originally Posted by: glen.menendez

I'm having a "problem" in that my fretted notes are sharper than they should be.

Can you post an example?

Or you might just want to ask a pro! GT's tech professional has his own forum for this purpose.

https://www.guitartricks.com/forum/threads.php?f=30

Hope that helps!

Hi Christopher. In general, my fretted notes are 2 cents (about 7-8hz) higher than they should be. Not sure if I am worrying too much. The strings on my acoustic are a bit on the old side (and in fact are factory strings) so I will change them and try again. I will also look at my technique. I'd like to say that I'm doing it right but as I'm a new player, I will double-check that I'm not messing that up.

Thanks for the link to the guitar tech forum.

Thank you for the reply.

Try playing the note with just enough pressure to make it sound. If it was happening on just one guitar I would say it could be intonation, but it's more likely to be technique if it's the same on two different guitars.

Originally Posted by: glen.menendez

Hi Christopher. In general, my fretted notes are 2 cents (about 7-8hz) higher than they should be. Not sure if I am worrying too much.[/quote]

That might worrying too much at this point. 2 cents is an incredibly small amount. Most people can't even hear pitch differences lower than 5 cents!

[quote=glen.menendez]The strings on my acoustic are a bit on the old side (and in fact are factory strings) so I will change them and try again. I will also look at my technique. I'd like to say that I'm doing it right but as I'm a new player, I will double-check that I'm not messing that up.

All good ideas! It is possible you just have exceptional hearing and fretting notes on even a properly set up guitar does sometimes result in a slightly sharp pitch due to:

1. The angle of the string when fretted.

2. Striking the string with a pick making a brief initial slightly sharp sound.

Hope this helps! Let us know how it goes at your convenience!