Buzz Feiten intonation system drawbacks - from a music shop point of viewFeb 15 '03 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Very good, at least a step in the right direction. But the proprietary thing sucks big time.
First, I would gladly welcome such a guitar intonation system as Feiten, especially on acoustic guitars which never intonates properly because of their set bridge. And if you really have suspicions of the benefits, try this: On an acoustic 12 string guitar, tune up the third G-string couple, open string so they ring perfect pitch open G together, with no beating at all. Then press your finger on the first fret, play, and listen to the incredible beating that occurs due to that one of the strings is more out of tune than the other. So when Feiten explains his thing, it has a very good cause, and he's right about pitch going out of tune on the first frets. Buzz Feitens system, is derived from piano tuners/tuning. Hmm...pianos. Some people keep their pianos for life. Some sell them or give them away. But I have never heard of anyone buying a piano, that change strings in their piano to suit their playing style. But they do so A LOT on guitars, I am afraid. Guitarists trade and sell their guitars. I work in a music shop and got in a traded in hollow body Washburn with BF system. Now the guy had it set up, for jazz strings, heavy 012s set, with a spun third. Note that the BF system did not came with the guitar, as usual with Washburn. It was made in the town he lived in at the moment, where they had a BF-licensed luthier, in Stockholm. Sweden. The only place. I work in a music shop in a town about 8 hour drive from Stockholm. The guy I sold it to was a rock guitarist, using 009 set of strings with a plain 3rd string. He put on a set and couldn't intonate it, he even got a Korg DT-7 digital tuner. The guitar was even more out of tune than a regular guitar. Especially the 3rd string that went from a wound one to a plain one. Now, maybe this could be an easy thing to fix, if the guitarist could do it himself, like the normal intonation adjustments that's taking place on a regular electric guitar. Upon calling the luthier, he said that the guitar had to be sent to him to compensate for the new set of string gauge. Customer said, no way! My question is: Why is BF a patented proprietary system that not any guitarist can do? The old one wasn't. Most guitarists I know, don't use the same string height and string sets I do. On my Gibson L5-s I swap from thick jazz wound, to super slinkies now and then. Regularly, at least once a year. Then I adjust the intonation in order for it to sound good (note: not perfect!). I simply don't want to send away my guitar to a repairman to make adjustments just because I swapped strings. Even if it is on the next block in my hometown and not paying anything. I want to/can do that myself, and within 15 minutes it is alright. I have never came across a customer, saying that they think that this procedure with sending away and paying is OK. If I sell any BF-guitar that I owned, I have to sell it to someone that's using the very same gauge of strings as I do, even the same brand, and the same string height. You amateur guys out there should really think twice about the second hand value of your guitar, if it should've been "feitenized". Only famous pros and stellar artists can afford this boutique manicure. They couldn't care less about second hand value. Until they make a adjustable nut for each string that is correspondent to the bridge on an electric guitar, and that you don't have to pay anything or send the guitar away, I am very reluctant to even trade in, or sell such a guitar anymore. And me, who even raved about it when it came out. Because it really does work, once set for that special type of string gauge and so on. It's all this proprietary thing that puts me off, and a whole lot of customers as well. But then again, I have never been able to intonate a regular guitar properly for someone else anyway. When finished, it always works with MY fingers only, not the customers, or my colleagues in the music shop. In fact I don't know of anyone who's been able to do this totally perfect for someone else. At least not, if you're as picky and stickler for intonation as Buzz Feiten and I am. kindest regards /Mats Eriksson  |
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