When to compensate a bridge saddle ?

Rayk

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Thought I’d throw this out there . One guitar I have seems to have darn good intonation without a compensated saddle . Have to say that’s the first time I’ve experienced it .

Question is , how off flat or sharp does it have to be before compensation needs to be addressed ?

So the tuner on all strings open pings the proper pitch so then doing the 12th fret noted or octave and then the harmonic .

On all strings the octave note and harmonic are no more the half a cent off or less . I’m thinking it’s hard to get much better then that but hey I’m still learning stuff :)

Your thoughts and wisdom please :)
 

Brucebubs

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Funny you should say that, by sheer coincidence my Guild F-412 is my only guitar with a straight saddle,
I tried a compensated one in there one day and didn't like it - put the straight one back in.

p.s.I also found that a bone saddle listed on ebay for a '7-string guitar' was a near perfect fit.
 

Rayk

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Funny you should say that, by sheer coincidence my Guild F-412 is my only guitar with a straight saddle,
I tried a compensated one in there one day and didn't like it - put the straight one back in.

p.s.I also found that a bone saddle listed on ebay for a '7-string guitar' was a near perfect fit.

I can’t remember but I wonder what the F212XlCE is lol no I have look or I won’t sleep tonight lol

Did you test the intonation or just thought it should have a compensated saddle ?

Did you have shape the saddles radius ?

I’m installing a Fossilized Walrus saddle on my Blueridge I just bought.
It has a oversized saddle length wise and the ends a raduised down to the shape of the bridge ends so I’ll have some shaping work to do and some polishing :)
 

Brucebubs

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I just looked at all my other guitars and made a bone saddle with similar compensation.
Yes, that sounds pretty ignorant but I had plenty of time on my hands and decided to give it a try.
Intonation seemed to get worse as I went up the neck.

The plain bone I used already had a radius but I have made saddles from plain bone blanks too.
Here's the one I bought that fits my F-412; https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/One-Pie...stic-Guitar-Saddle-76-5mm-Length/401412427655

I have glued together a few kit guitars and did compensate the saddles on those for intonation using this guide from the excellent Dan Erlewine book 'Guitar Player Repair Guide'.

If the string notes SHARP, move the saddle BACK - INCREASE THE STRING LENGTH.
If the string notes FLAT, move the saddle FORWARD - DECREASE THE STRING LENGTH.
 

Rayk

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I just looked at all my other guitars and made a bone saddle with similar compensation.
Yes, that sounds pretty ignorant but I had plenty of time on my hands and decided to give it a try.
Intonation seemed to get worse as I went up the neck.

The plain bone I used already had a radius but I have made saddles from plain bone blanks too.
Here's the one I bought that fits my F-412; https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/One-Pie...stic-Guitar-Saddle-76-5mm-Length/401412427655

I have glued together a few kit guitars and did compensate the saddles on those for intonation using this guide from the excellent Dan Erlewine book 'Guitar Player Repair Guide'.

If the string notes SHARP, move the saddle BACK - INCREASE THE STRING LENGTH.
If the string notes FLAT, move the saddle FORWARD - DECREASE THE STRING LENGTH.

Yeah cool if I were to guess I’d say it’s 16” radius . I figure the 12’s would be flatter but I don’t think I know what the 12 strings radius are and I need mine as it’s jyst a tad to low .

I look into that book as well :)
 

AcornHouse

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Different sizes/brands of strings will require different compensation. If it’s working for you, no, you don’t need one. The generic compensated saddle is a generalization. Ideally, you would want to add the compensation to a saddle blank AFTER stringing it up and test with a good tuner. And if you change gauges or brands, retest and redo a new blank.
 

fronobulax

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IIRC My B50 is almost 10 cents off on the E string and I have been told that is "normal" for the factory bridge and saddle. I can live with it but there are some days when I don't want to go above the fifth fret.
 

Rayk

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Different sizes/brands of strings will require different compensation. If it’s working for you, no, you don’t need one. The generic compensated saddle is a generalization. Ideally, you would want to add the compensation to a saddle blank AFTER stringing it up and test with a good tuner. And if you change gauges or brands, retest and redo a new blank.

I just some Nano webs on and she’s right as rain . On the tune I posted in members music I’m tuned to B flat I think and the intonation was spot then and that’s with the old strings whatever they were , I’m thinking D’Addiros

IIRC My B50 is almost 10 cents off on the E string and I have been told that is "normal" for the factory bridge and saddle. I can live with it but there are some days when I don't want to go above the fifth fret.

On the E ? huh usually it’s the B that’s off .
10 off is a good bit but if don’t go above the 5th much you could fudge it if need be :)

Unless my tuner which my iPhone using Cleartune app is inaccurate I’m only off plus or minus a 1/2 cent.

I’m looking for something to check it against.
 

Cougar

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...On all strings the octave note and harmonic are no more the half a cent off or less . I’m thinking it’s hard to get much better then that....

I'd agree. No fix if ain't broke.

I’m installing a Fossilized Walrus saddle on my Blueridge I just bought.....

My great sounding EF-500RAVS Epiphone (now gone) had a fossilized walrus ivory saddle. It was not compensated. Of course, if the saddle is cut so that the string hits the front or the back (or the middle) of the saddle, it makes a bit of a difference to the intonation.
 

adorshki

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On the E ? huh usually it’s the B that’s off .
HAH ! He gotcha good!!
It's a bass guitar, there is no "B".
And in fact IIRC it might already have a 2-saddle set up for compensation... ahhhh, here we go:
guild-2-piece-saddle-jpg.565032


Unless my tuner which my iPhone using Cleartune app is inaccurate I’m only off plus or minus a 1/2 cent.
I’m looking for something to check it against.

Actually I've heard those are highly accurate.
Just get tuning fork and see what the app says.
And yeah 1/2 cent is virtually nothing.
Don't forget that if you tune "sterile" on all strings you actually wind up with intonation glitches at various points on the fretboard, chords that just don't quite sound right.
It's why a lot folks actually "sweeten" their tuning a slight bit to achieve better consistency up and down the board.
 

Rayk

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HAH ! He gotcha good!!
It's a bass guitar, there is no "B".
And in fact IIRC it might already have a 2-saddle set up for compensation... ahhhh, here we go:
guild-2-piece-saddle-jpg.565032




Actually I've heard those are highly accurate.
Just get tuning fork and see what the app says.
And yeah 1/2 cent is virtually nothing.
Don't forget that if you tune "sterile" on all strings you actually wind up with intonation glitches at various points on the fretboard, chords that just don't quite sound right.
It's why a lot folks actually "sweeten" their tuning a slight bit to achieve better consistency up and down the board.

Bass haha ! I’ll check around the board and see what the notes do .
 

fronobulax

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It is a split saddle bass. I mentioned it because Ray wondered whether a couple of cents was good enough. The split saddle was supposed to compensate but the reality is that it didn't work as well as people hoped.
 
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