Saddle question

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Stephen Cowden
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Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:06 pm

Saddle question

Post by Stephen Cowden »

I just finished sizing the saddle for my second guitar, I put it back in and strung it up. Then I noticed I had put it in backwards. When I went to pull it out the nippers I was using slipped off and chipped the saddle. I sized it down so the chips were gone. Since it was too low now, I shimmed it up with a piece of maple. It seems to play fine and it sounds good to me, which isn't saying much not having much experience in this. My question is is this a legitimate fix or should I replace the saddle?
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Ryan Mazzocco
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Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 6:01 pm
Location: Joplin, MO
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Re: Saddle question

Post by Ryan Mazzocco »

In a perfect world, replace the saddle...
but you may not have to if it plays and sounds fine to you. However, it would shorten the life of your saddle as you make adjustments in the future due to things like a humped top or increased neck angle from string tension, etc, etc.... but still not a huge deal if you are the one dealing with it.
but also consider how much you had to take off. if the saddle is too short and has too much shimmed underneath it can start to lean forward.
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Eddie McRae
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Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:07 am
Location: Woodbury, GA USA
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Re: Saddle question

Post by Eddie McRae »

I have an acoustic in the shop now with the problem Ryan described. It's been shimmed too much and it's caused the saddle to lean forward. It still plays ok and sounds fine but I'm sure intonation is off a bit. However, I think it's created a problem with vibration transfer to the under-saddle piezo because the high E string has much less volume than all of the other strings. I'm replacing the saddle which hopefully will eliminate both problems.
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