Members jimeanes Posted October 4, 2004 Members Posted October 4, 2004 I was adjusting the action on one of my guitars, removed the strings, saddle and etc. Did a little work on the saddle, put the srings back on, tune her up and started to play, The action was perfit and the sound and substain was as good as before with maybe a little less volumn. After playing about ten minutes I noticed the strings were laying on the bridge, I forgot to put the saddle back on. Maybe I'm getting old or a 13 hour work day had something to do with it, but I can't believe it sounded that good with out the saddle.Carle if you read this thread, I enjoyed meeting you @ LB jam. Take care Jim Eanes
Members TaylorFishin' Posted October 4, 2004 Members Posted October 4, 2004 Jim, I've often wondered about this very thing myself. I often read threads where someone talks of the HUGE change in volume and tone when changing a saddle to bone, fossils or their grandpa's false teeth! I've put a bone saddle in one of my guitars that came with tusk and can honestly say I could tell little if any difference in volume or tone. A change of strings is MUCH more dramatic to my ear. BTW - I enjoyed meeting you and Carle at LB's jam. I'm the guy that drove through the Tornado on my way there! I was hoping you would make it back on Saturday to hear Bill Sheffield. Man, that guy can play and sing the blues! Scott
Members LesStrater Posted October 4, 2004 Members Posted October 4, 2004 Originally posted by jimeanes The action was perfit and the sound and substain was as good as before with maybe a little less volumn. After playing about ten minutes I noticed the strings were laying on the bridge, I forgot to put the saddle back on. It sounds like you need to do some serious shaving-down of your saddle if the action was perfect without it!
Members jimeanes Posted October 4, 2004 Author Members Posted October 4, 2004 I took out some shims I had placed under the saddle just to see how the higher action would affect the sound &/or volumn. Of course the action now is a bit higher after I put the saddle in . The top of the saddle is only 1/8" above the bridge @ the highest point anyway. Maybe that the reason it sounded good without the saddle The Guitar is a 35 year old Alavrez- Yair
Members 54merk Posted October 4, 2004 Members Posted October 4, 2004 Originally posted by jimeanes I took out some shims I had placed under the saddle just to see how the higher action would affect the sound &/or volumn. Of course the action now is a bit higher after I put the saddle in . The top of the saddle is only 1/8" above the bridge @ the highest point anyway. Maybe that the reason it sounded good without I hate to tell ya' bro' but you're ready for a neck reset very soon. That's not much clearance at all, so there is virtually no break angle over the saddle. Read about it in Frets.com. The section called Looking at Saddles.http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/Saddle/saddle01.html
Members labjr Posted October 4, 2004 Members Posted October 4, 2004 This isn't really worth debating about. How could you not know you didn't have a saddle in your guitar? Secondly, the bridge is glued to the top, so the sound of the strings would be transferred to the top, wouldn't it? The saddle is needed for proper intonation, transfers the sound into the bridge, and gives a focused sound.
Members jimeanes Posted October 4, 2004 Author Members Posted October 4, 2004 Like I said , I put the strings back on, tuned1/2 step down from standard and started playing couple songs and then noticed the saddle was not in. I just wonder if anybody else had done any thing stupid like that. No big deal Jim Eanes
Members Carle Posted October 4, 2004 Members Posted October 4, 2004 Hey jimeans and TaylorFishin', yes, we had a great time at the jam didn't we. Jim, if the strings made good contact with the edge of the bridge and did not touch the frets then it should sound ok, not great, just ok. The long hours and being tired makes the mind do strange things. If the strings did not buzz I would look into maybe lowering the action some more. It's good to be able to share a boo boo and laugh about it. Better than getting mad about it. Carle
Members FingerBone Bill Posted October 5, 2004 Members Posted October 5, 2004 Originally posted by jimeanes Like I said , I put the strings back on, tuned1/2 step down from standard and started playing couple songs and then noticed the saddle was not in. I just wonder if anybody else had done any thing stupid like that. No big deal Jim Eanes Nothing as stupid as that on an acoustic - but I've solo'd on the electric guitar a couple of times and got through whole songs before realising that I realised that I left a pick woven through the strings at about the second fret position.If I'd been playing chords it would have been very obvious - but noodling away at the 10th fret and above I never even noticed!
Members guitarcapo Posted October 5, 2004 Members Posted October 5, 2004 Basically it sounds like your guitar had briefly for all practical purposes an EBONY saddle. The stringswere up against the ebony of the bridge. The intonation and action might have been off but the tone I'm sure would have been somewhat passable. Ebony and rosewood bridges are often used on archtop guitars and even some older flattops. The tone is exactly as you say. Quieter, less harsh, smoother. I think it works really well getting some of the harsh brittle sound out of an archtop electric. Try replacing your bridge sadlle with a strip of hard rubber and decide whether bridge saddle makes a difference in tone......
Members FingerBone Bill Posted October 5, 2004 Members Posted October 5, 2004 Originally posted by guitarcapo ...Try replacing your bridge sadlle with a strip of hard rubber and decide whether bridge saddle makes a difference in tone...... Try replacing the strings with rubber bands too!What's your point?
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