Do I need to shim the neck?

[solspirit]

I've got the d & g strings maxed out on the bridge and I still can't intonate, the rest of the strings are all pretty deep too.

[Securb]

Typically we shim a neck to help out the string height or neck angle. The intonation is more of a length adjustment than a height adjustment though height can play a factor in intonation. When you say the strings are "maxed out" do you mean you can not make them longer or shorter? Knowing what kind of guitar and bridge you are dealing with would go a long way to help, and pictures would also be very helpful. Also how far off is the intonation? Drastic or slight?

[GuitarDoc]

Pics of the bridge/saddles are needed. Sounds like you may need to re-mount/re-position your bridge. But let's see some pics first.

[DCikes88]

Yeah, pics are needed. It could be a number of things. Hopefully it's something you could solve without repositioning the bridge.

Have you measured scale carefully? Is the nut cut properly? What is the guitar in question, a custom/project thing or a production model?

[solspirit]

It's a Chinese LP style guitar and I can't post pics. You've all given me insight though. I'm sure the nut isn't cut properly.

[DCikes88]

Somewhat related post... I just bought a chinese neck for a project.
My biggest fear was that the frets won't be alligned properly in relation to each other, making it impossible to intonate, and to a lesser extent that the scale would be off of the declared 24.75".

So, first thing I did, I took my 1970 Hoyer 5060 (LP copy) and alligned the necks. Cold sweats started when I saw that the chinese neck is ever so slightly shorter.
I took out the trusty measurement thingy, fretboard end of the nut to the center of the 12th fret... 314 mm. So a 628 mm scale, ie 24.72". Also measured the fret positions guided by StewMacs fret position calculator, and it's spot on beyond my measuring precision.

Then I measured the 52 year old german hunk... 315.5mm. 631mm scale. Or 24.84". Never knew.

[solspirit]

Somewhat related post... I just bought a chinese neck for a project.
My biggest fear was that the frets won't be alligned properly in relation to each other, making it impossible to intonate, and to a lesser extent that the scale would be off of the declared 24.75".

So, first thing I did, I took my 1970 Hoyer 5060 (LP copy) and alligned the necks. Cold sweats started when I saw that the chinese neck is ever so slightly shorter.
I took out the trusty measurement thingy, fretboard end of the nut to the center of the 12th fret... 314 mm. So a 628 mm scale, ie 24.72". Also measured the fret positions guided by StewMacs fret position calculator, and it's spot on beyond my measuring precision.

Then I measured the 52 year old german hunk... 315.5mm. 631mm scale. Or 24.84". Never knew.

Hahaha. It's good to know that they're not totally cheesing out. . .

[alex1fly]

I've had success putting on fresh strings, playing for a few days, then coming back to do the intonation. Only once have I not been able to get it right and that was on a 2-saddle bass with nut slots that were too shallow (this was the luthier's diagnosis, not mine). After the intonation is set you shouldn't have to tweak it much if ever, assuming you stick with the same string sets as you replace them. Never had to shim a neck.

[Securb]

Here is a trick I use I learned from a luthier friend. He uses three rack tuners in his shop to do intonations. They are set to fast, medium, and slow. I do not have three rack tuners, so I use my rack, come out of that into a pocket tuner, and I also use a headstock tuner. I watch all three as I am setting the intonation.

[Clint 55]

Is it a tune-o-matic bridge? All you do is turn the saddles around and it gives you more room to intonate.

[GuitarDoc]

You could also replace the bridge with a Nashville which give you a bit more intonation. If you haven't already turned the saddles around, that can help also.