The saddle is a vital part of an acoustic guitar. Protruding above the bridge, it is one of the primary action adjustment points for the instrument. Without a well made saddle, proper setup will not be possible. Though they can be made from many different materials, for this article, we will be focusing on the process of hand cutting a new acoustic guitar saddle out of a piece of bone.
Using a measuring tool called a caliper, we measure the length of the saddle slot then mark the desired length on our saddle blank.
We carefully shape the blank, adjusting the length, width, and rounding the edges, until the piece is properly seated in the saddle slot. A poorly fit saddle can eventually cause the wooden saddle slot to crack. A correct fit should be snug, but not excessively difficult to remove.
How To Shape An Acoustic Guitar Saddle
Instruments with under-saddle pickups may require some extra finesse to ensure that the bottom of the saddle rests firmly against the pickup that is installed on the bottom of the saddle slot.
After measuring the fingerboard’s radius (curvature), we use our radius gauge to draw the profile of the fingerboard onto the saddle blank. Then it’s over to a disc sander to remove material, sanding a matching contour on the saddle’s top.
“Compensation” is a term to describe adjustments made to the functional length of the string in order to fine-tune the intonation of the instrument.
Guitar Truss Rod Adjustment Guide
To accomplish this, we first mark the saddle between the second and third string since this marks the switch from plain to wound strings in a standard acoustic string set.
Then we draw two lines diagonally across the length of the saddle. These will serve as a guide of where to file. We then shape the top of the saddle, removing material on either side, until the desired compensation has been achieved.
Had we been making a traditional saddle, without string compensation, the top would simply have been rounded over to produce a crown across the length of the saddle. Compensation is a bit more work but yields better intonation in the instruments upper register.
Ovation Celebrity Applause Acoustic Electric Guitar Thinline Pickup Saddle
Back over to the guitar, we install the outer two strings to take an action measurement. If needed, we will perform additional sanding to achieve the desired string height we are seeking.
Once the action and intonation have been set, we use sandpaper to remove any rough tooling marks before switching to a dedicated buffing wheel to polish the saddle to a high shine. Besides aesthetic appeal, thisprovides a smooth surface for the string to rest against.
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Which Part Of A Slanted Acoustic Guitar Bridge Is The Scale Length Measured From? In Other Words, What Part Of The Bridge Is The Same Length Away From The 12th Fret As
Calico Guitarworks is the area’s premier destination for fretted musical instrument care and maintenance. Owned and managed by Erik Salomon, the shop is dedicated to providing quick, honest and reliable service. The staff at Calico Guitarworks has a combined 25+ years of professional guitar repair experience. Sharing the knowledge that we accumulate in this focused pursuit is at the core of what we do. Contact us with any questions or book your appointment today.People often bring an acoustic guitar into the shop complaining of poor intonation. Maybe it plays less and less in tune as they move up the neck, or their B string is always sharp, or every winter things go flat. Of course, there are several real tuning limitations that are inherent to guitars: they’re designed to play many notes at a time, thus increasing the conflict to our ear; there’s no way to subtly vary the pitch of a given note as there is on a violin or trombone; the physical phenomenon of pressing down a string increases tension on it rather than just shortening; and don’t get us started on equal temperament. But today we aren’t going to talk too much about those limitations. We are going to talk about how to keep things reasonably well intonated so that your average guitar player’s ear isn’t too bothered.
First things first—see what you have. Tune your guitar with a digital chromatic tuner. Check the open string by sounding the harmonic at the 12th fret, as this is more easily “heard” by the tuner. Once you’re satisfied that the open string is in tune, try fretting it and see how things look. Many people just check the intonation at the 12th fret, but I’d encourage you to check the intonation at the fifth and seventh frets as well. For example, if a D string is perfect when played open, you should be able to get a good G at the fifth, an A at the seventh, and an octave at the 12th.
If you notice something is outside of the reasonable range of intonation, and if it’s off enough to bother the ear, here are a few questions to ask yourself.
Tune O Matic Installation And Set Up Tips
The ball ends of your strings should be tucked into the pin holes in your bridge, and they should firmly abut the bridge plate. You shouldn’t be able to see the thicker wound part of the string running over the top of your saddle—this indicates bridge-plate wear, and makes the string unstable. At the tuning machines, you should only have a couple of winds around each post, with the final wind(s) pointing down toward the headstock.
If the strings you use are very light, they can be easy enough to bend that just the act of pressing them down toward the fingerboard is enough to bend them out of tune. In this case, heavier strings, and the increased tension they add, will keep things more stable.
Bear in mind that guitars are made of organic material, and as such, changes in humidity and temperature can slightly shrink or swell a guitar, just enough to wangle it out of intonation. Does it always read a bit sharp at the 12th on a humid day? Good to know! While we can affect many things, we can’t control the way certain cuts of wood respond to the weather.
Understanding Takamine's Split Saddle Design
If the strings take off from the nut way too high, which will be clear if it feels like you have to press down really hard to fret in first position, you’ll find that the notes on the first few frets are slightly out of tune. Likewise, if the saddle is too tall for comfortable action, just pressing the strings down can distort their pitch.
If the bridge is pulling up or creeping forward, the scale length could be slightly shortened, making it impossible to intonate accurately.
Did this guitar come from the manufacturer with a really good, accurate placement of the bridge and saddle? If the bridge was put down just a bit too far forward or backward, allowing for relief in the neck and a host of other variables, it will always be a bit frustrating. If you suspect this is the case on your guitar, take it to the repair shop and have your luthier measure it. Sometimes, the answer is filling the existing saddle slot with a matched strip of wood, and routing a new one in the right spot.
Im Adjusting The Saddle For The High E Because The Intonation Is Flat But It Doesn't Seem To Be Changing No Matter How Much I Turn The Screw Either Direction? Any Ideas? :
At its most basic, compensation means that the saddle is placed at an angle to make a slightly longer-sounding length for the lower strings and a shorter one for the high strings. The angle is dependent on a few things, including the scale length and recommended string gauge. Each string may have further, more specific, needs to intonate well. The biggest culprit is the B string, which is quite a thick plain-steel string, and on a compensated saddle, it will get a bit more length compared to its neighbors. You might see a saddle with variable takeoff points, where the top ridge looks like a zigzag, or lightning shape. Additionally, the shape of the saddle’s crown can be altered a bit. Creating a compensated saddle is a simple way to address many intonation issues.
’s repair expert Martin Keith by sending an email titled “Repair Expert” to Editors.AG@stringletter.com and we’ll forward it to Keith. If your question is selected for publication, you’ll receive a complimentary copy of
Buzzing strings are a serious bummer and often difficult to diagnose.Download our FREE guideon identifying and fixing 10 common causes of string buzz.
Neck Relief On Acoustic Guitars Is Crucial
Mamie Minch is the co-owner of Brooklyn Lutherie and an active blues player. She is the former head of repair at Retrofret Guitars.OK, that sounds dumb. On an archtop guitar, mandolin, autoharp, banjo, fiddle, cello, and lots of other stringed instruments, the bridge is the piece between the vibrating surface and and the string itself. The saddle of a violin, for example, is the piece at the upper corner edge of the top, against which the tailpiece bears. The adjustable archtop guitar bridge has two parts: the base, and the saddle, over which the strings pass.
On the flat top guitar, the bridge is the big wooden (usually ebony or rosewood) part that holds the strings via holes in back side, or with
. The saddle is the small structure against which the strings bear, an through which they conduct their vibrating energy. Saddles are usually made of
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