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I was making a new saddle for a guitar after a re-fret and neck reset and was using some cheaper house brand lights from a well known mail order retailer for the setup. The guitar intonated fine before the work but I was having a terrible time getting the wound strings on the money. Always sharp at the 12th fret. I was scratching my head. Then I tried putting some D'Addario lights on-same gauge, and the problem was solved. It was an impressive difference that I didn't expect.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Hmm. Interesting. I once heard a good builder always knows when to blame his strings.

A band carpenter always blames his tools.

(Wow. A little Freudian typo slip there.)

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

That can certainly be an issue. I've generally found that laying out a few bucks extra for decent strings to be worth it.

What's a band carpenter?
Is that like a ship's carpenter?

I always used the same brand and gauge of strings the owner planned on using when I made a compensated saddle. I made them buy 2 sets beforehand, and explained that one set might get wasted in the course of making the new saddle.

It didn't always happen that way, but I figured it was better to let them know beforehand instead of making excuses afterwards. I also told them if they changed brands or gauges of strings, to expect it to play out of tune.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

The "n" was the Freudian slip part.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.