Let's Talk About My Saddle.....

[Murph]

I've never touched it, it's the stock saddle and the action's always been high. I don't have time (day job) to get measurements right now, but I've always figured it gave it better tone and just lived with it. It's showing some serious wear, (you guys have seen how I play....) and I think I'm going to order some and learn how to shave them down, or whatever and get a little better action. I'll keep the stock one in case I screw things up, which is likely. This ain't like building a balcony, is it?

 

Give me some advise on saddles, types, price's, and most of all.....

 

INSTRUCTIONS.......

[merseybeat1963]

That Bob Colosi pre shapes them ..and leaves you the final fit with basic easy instructions.

Here is discription of materials..they are about $46 shipped for the priciest one I believe.

 

http://www.guitarsaddles.com/products.asp

 

The saddle is wearing out?

 

Anyway the neck should be nearly straight before shaving the saddle to a height you like.

 

Factory set ups are way too high..since then(new) the top has also risen a bit as most do due to string pull..and if haven't adjusted it since new, neck usually moves to excess relief making action even higher.

 

I usually stand the tip of a white guitar pick at the top of 12th fret and mark a line across the top of Low E & High E strings so I know where present height is and get new one down to that height with strings at pitch.

[drathbun]

If you're buying a bone saddle from Colosi (they are wonderful BTW), I would suggest you take your guitar to a qualified guitar tech and have them lower it to your taste and shape it for intonation. It will be worth it. Keep the higher saddle as a back up. Lowering the height of the saddle isn't as difficult as setting the intonation. Lowering entails carefully sanding the bottom of the saddle flat. Intonation entails shaping the top so the string's leading edge (the side closest to the nut) comes off the saddle at precisely the right place for good intonation up and down the fretboard.

 

If you want to do it yourself, the key is to, of course, only take off as much as you need, but also, to keep the bottom absolutely flat.

 

This is my favorite link for instructions on lowering a saddle on an acoustic. It is by Frank Ford:

 

Lowering the Action at the Saddle

[kombo]

I'll say that it's not rocket science, but there is definitely a skilled art to getting the guitar properly set up. I think Bob makes a great product, but in my untrained hands I was unable to get the most out of one of his saddles. I followed directions and I consider myself pretty handy. There is more to it than just sanding and dropping the new saddle in. Based on my recent experience, I would recommend you take it to an authorized Gibson repair shop in your area and get it set up. You could bring a Colosi bone saddle with you and have them properly fit it with the set up. You'll save yourself some time and be much happier with the end results. I think you will be amazed by how much easier the guitar will be to play without any added buzz or loss in tone.

 

I live in LA and the only certified center listed for LA is David Neely, who is THE guy to go to for any guitar work. I'm thinking you should be able to find someone good in your area on the linked list. Maybe just do some research on the forums.

 

http://www.service-center-locator.com/gibson/gibson-service-center.htm

 

Hope this helps!

[mountainpicker]

This is how I first learned to tackle the problem;

 

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/LowerAction/loweraction01.html

 

I've probably done about a dozen of them now and it's become second nature for me to mess around with bone saddles. I can usually do one in about 45 minutes. I'm now into fooling around with compensating the saddle for each string and for that go to Paul Hostetter's site as he gives a lot of insight into what you want to accomplish and how to go about it. Be not afraid, the rewards are well worth it.

[merseybeat1963]

But the saddles come set up compensated for intonation from Colosi..no need to pay to have that re done.

Just make sure you ask him when you order cause if the saddle is narrow, little compensating can be done.

If your gonna have a tech do it go straight to him,it should be $60 and he has material on hand.

[jedzep]

While I would always recommend a pro install and setup, my guy has told me I've been doing a good job with my saddle swap outs by tracing the saddle shape onto these blanks. Then using a dremel to duplicate orig saddle contour, fine sanding then polishing the final product. I've used the inexpensive bone from Tyler Mt seven or eight times now and dumb luck has prevailed. I always buy two at a time anticipating disaster. I feel there's a degree of overkill in the exotic and expensive saddle/nut/pin product variations as they relate to yielding detectable significant sonic improvement. Is camel bone really better than fossilized mastadon? I'm calling bullshat.

 

http://www.ebay.com/...984.m1438.l2649

 

 

Get the thickness down to 'hardly' snug in the saddle slot. It's easy to crack a bridge with a tight fit.

[onewilyfool]

Just be happy your saddle is on the high side, I see a lot of "young" Gibson and other guitars, 5-6 years old, and they have low saddles...Your problem is NOT a big one!!!

[fortyearspickn]

Done 3 Colosi saddles. What you get should be compensated appropriately and also fit the bridge slot. You should only have to take a few silly millimeters off the bottom to get it low enough for your liking. Fine sandpaper will help you go slow and steady, but if you do it by hand, you'll get a round bottom which will wobble and, worse, not transmit the sound vibrations to the face real well. So, you will need to create a channel guide ala mitre box that holds the saddle gudentite as you slide it gently back and forth over the sandpaper.

Mark on the new saddle a line where the old, high saddle hits. Then, just barely sand off that line and you'll be lower by the width of that line. Which should be enough g'luck!

[Stubee]

I am likely a cretin but have worked on a lot of saddles and all I do is:

 

Bottom--mark with pencil where I want to end up, clamp the saddle in my vice & go at it with a good file. I turn the saddle to keep the bottom straight & finish up with emery cloth. I always take off a bit less than marked. I balance the stroke to keep it level while filing as you may have a tendency to start or end a stroke with more pressure.

 

Top--mark as above, start with medium sandpaper or finer & work down to emery cloth. I keep it contoured & it should be glass smooth when done.

 

I don't compensate saddles & have had maybe one such out of 30-40 Flattops?

 

I just did my old LG-2 and it took about 20 minutes.

 

Main thing is less = more, pay attention & if you get stymied, stop.

[Murph]

Great stuff, all. I've done my own setup on electrics for literally decades, so am aware of much, just never done an acoustic saddle before and really appreciate your advice. I just discovered last night my feeler gauges are gone, so will get some new ones and let you know where it is NOW before I start.

 

I think I'll just order a few from Bob and try one, my thinking was to simply mark it using the original, then to take off a little more, so I guess that was correct.

 

To be honest, I was so used to it I never gave it much thought. Shopping for my daughter the last few weeks made me realize how ridiculously high my action was compared to the dozens of guitars I played.

 

Thanks.

 

Murph.

[Hall]

Just be happy your saddle is on the high side, I see a lot of "young" Gibson and other guitars, 5-6 years old, and they have low saddles...Your problem is NOT a big one!!!

 

Wily, I'm with you.

 

Save the old one for certain, Murph!

[drathbun]

But the saddles come set up compensated for intonation from Colosi..no need to pay to have that re done.

Just make sure you ask him when you order cause if the saddle is narrow, little compensating can be done.

If your gonna have a tech do it go straight to him,it should be $60 and he has material on hand.

 

The saddle from Colosi is compensated for the B string and setup for basic intonation but fine tuning of the intonation needs to be done for the individual instrument.

[ritchie69]

Recently I discovered a cnc machined bone saddle from Hosco (a japan brands of musical accessories), they make bone repros of stock tusq saddles used by major guitar brands, obviously they required a little sanding for a perfect fit.Here's the gibson style:

[Murph]

Okay, here's the measurements as it sits now, original, from the factory, remember this is an '03. (J-45 RW)

 

Drum roll, please.......

 

Treble Bass

.120 .153

 

Yes, my hands are like vise grips.......

 

The relief is good, around .004 at the 8th.

 

Does this seem high to you?

[ritchie69]

Pretty high for me, but it depends of your playing style...it's not hard has it's seems to make a new saddle from a bone blank, otherwise you can start from a pre-shaped bone saddle, who require less work to fit into the bridge slot...but if you want a conpensated saddle, you'll need a oversized bone blank. However you can find them both from stewmac.

I've made dozens of saddles, here's an example:

[Murph]

Nice work there, Ritchie. Colosi went to voice mail so I ordered 2 Tusq saddles from Stew Mac to start with. I always loved the SOUND of the guitar, so now I have a few to practice with.

 

I'm going file shopping this weekend.....