episteve Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 hey all, I recently purchased an FT-160N 12 string Texan. It was missing all the hardware and the adjustable saddle was removed from the bridge. I would like to replace the saddle but not sure what size to get. Can someone give me a tip on where to purchase one? Thanks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el capitan Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Better to fit a non-adjustable saddle-either rosewood,ebony or bone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Graph Tech makes a saddle that will fit a Gibson B-45 12 string. You could start by checking those out. I have also seen a guy on eBay advertising a bone saddle that will fit the Gibson but can't recall the vendor. As suggested you could either swap the bridge or adapt the original to a fixed bridge which is apparently not a big deal. Lots of folks have found they can do it themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Not sure the B-45 will fit this Epiphone. The metal saddle holder is missing on this. The factory saddle slot is 1/4" wide, while stock saddles are in the 1/8" or 3/16" range. Unless you can find a replacement saddle holder (which holds a 1/8" saddle), you'll have to fill the double wide gap so that a standard saddle will fit. Chances of finding a saddle holder are slim to none as they haven't been used since the 1980's. The only way to 'find' one is to buy similar vintage guitar with one still in place... Then the question begged is, SHOULD I take the replacement guitar off line or use it? How to fill the gap? That's a good question. One could fill the gap with a 1/4" wide plug sized and shaped to precisely fit the long oval hole. Then cut the plug to hold a standard saddle. One could shim on both sides of a standard saddle with ebony or whatever shim material presents itself in your work shop. Be very careful that the plug, saddle and / or shims fit 'just' snug, but not tight as you may break the narrow strip of wood along the front edge of the bridge. Also be aware that the geometry of these Norlin built Epiphones places the finger board higher in relation to the sound board. The result being that a custom made saddle may have to be quite a bit taller than standard. Lay a yard stick on edge upon the the frets, then cantilever it over the saddle slot. Measure from the bottom of the yard stick to the bottom of the saddle slot, against the sound board. This will give you a STARTING point for figuring how tall the blank needs to be. Bob Colossi, a few years ago, displayed a gargantuan looking saddle that fit the adjustable bridge slot perfectly. It hasn't graced his pages in a couple years. An email to him may jog his memory and he may make one for you. If memory serves me, and sometimes it don't, I think the cost was twice the cost of standard saddle made of comparable materials. $55 sounds familiar, but that was a couple years ago. Bob's site: http://www.guitarsaddles.com/ There is an email link. Perusing his site, I noticed that on his Image Gallery: http://www.guitarsaddles.com/photo_gallery1.asp , the pic identified as: "Petros Apple Creek GC walrus pins:" (center column, 4th one down) appears to be the size and shape of a saddle that would fit a Norlin Adjustable saddle slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoresteen Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 The problem with these 70's Norlins is that the intonation is usally way off. IMHO the best way to deal with it is to take it to a luthier who converts right handed acustics to lefthanded. Have him fill the existing slot with a precise rosewood plug. Then he will calculate where to cut the saddle slot for proper intonation. I have an FT-135 "000" size and an FT-165 12 string that I had this done to and they now sound so much better. The saddles are 1/8" to 3/16" further back for proper intonation. I also had Fishman Infinity Matrix under the saddle pickups installed at the same time and they sound really nice. How is the neck block? The neck block is the weak spot of these guitars. Search the forum and there is some very good info on this. TommyK has a great post on this. My luthier has done Epiphone warrenty work since 1972 and knew exactly how to re-glue the neck block. He's in the Orlando FL araea - PM me for more info. Here's the story on my FT-165 re-build: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/83255-epiphone-ft-165-12-string/page__p__1139461__hl__aoresteen__fromsearch__1#entry1139461 Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diverden Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Bob Colosi can hook you up. http://www.guitarsaddles.com/products.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Here's a link to the fix: See my treatise on >>> Fixing A Broke Neck Norlin <<< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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