Just purchased a 60’s reissue J45 with adjustable saddle. Guitar is feather light and resonant. Purty wine finish too. A/B’d next to my Standard it does indeed have a less weighty metallic edge. I looked in to replacement saddles but thought I would try shimming under the factory saddle instead. With the action where I liked it I made a pencil reference line. I then removed the saddle, adjustment screws, and thin metal ribbon that lives under the saddle. I had some maple and made a shim out of it. I simply placed it under the saddle and put the strings back on. Now the saddle is in full contact with the bridge. The tone in unmistakably fuller with more woody low end and no trace of those metallic overtones. Much better and now it is on par with my standard. The good part is the old saddle assembly can be reinstalled as no physical mods were needed here. I could put the screws back with the new shim but I wont because I didn’t care for the feeling of brushing up against them with my hand, and thought it best they didn’t complete the metal circuit down through the metal posts under the bridge plate. Why bother? Because I got a great deal on a great used guitar!
