does saddle shape matter? huh? huh?

[cat-eggs]

hi, gentle reader. i was wondering if saddle shape matters? i have a fishman pickup in my dreadnought's saddle slot and right now i'm using a bone saddle (which i know they strictly advise against, but they discontinued the motherfucking fishman cleartone saddle). my saddle is very plain. no lips or curves or anything. was i supposed to put the lips and curves in?

like... you know how there's a lip where the "b" string sits on some saddles? do i need that?

i'm confused. i've had this one in there for a while. what should i do? i don't know if i'd be happier with something better that i don't know about?? micarta saddle? tusq saddle? how do i shape it? do i need the lip? how do i make sure the height is correct, accomodating for the pickup's additional height? will it make a big difference if it's off?

if anybody can answer some of these i'd be happy about it. thanks a lot for reading

born to rock you,
sparky krugger

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Originally Posted by cat-eggs

hi, gentle reader. i was wondering if saddle shape matters? i have a fishman pickup in my dreadnought's saddle slot and right now i'm using a bone saddle (which i know they strictly advise against, but they discontinued the motherfucking fishman cleartone saddle). my saddle is very plain.

Yes, the shape of the saddle matters. It affects the intonation of your guitar drastically.

They discontinued the Cleartone saddles (which were just micarta saddles with some holes in them) because they sucked. Bone is the way to go. It wears longer than anything else, is denser, and just plain sounds better.

Originally Posted by cat-eggs

like... you know how there's a lip where the "b" string sits on some saddles? do i need that?

We move the contact points to adjust for intonation. If you are having problems with your guitar playing out of tune as you move up the neck, then you should bring it too a good repair person, and have them look at it. They can give you an idea of what you need. What they are probably going to recommend is some adjustment of the saddle, particularly on the "B" string, as that is the one with the worst problems on most acoustics. As for the rest of your questions, if the saddle is too high, your action will be too high and it will be difficult to play your guitar. Take it to a good repair shop and have them look at it. As for the rest, you do not have the tools (nor the skills) to do a good job at shaping a nut. If you really want to learn, go look at Frank Ford's website, www.frets.com, and then go to the Stewart MacDonald website (www.stewmac.com), and buy one of the many books on the subject of guitar repair. But you should really just bring it to a good repair shop.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[cat-eggs]

thanks a lot for the help, guy!

i was wondering if i should even use the bone saddle with the pickup, because they say not to in the pickup specifications due to the "inconsistencies of non-synthetic materials."

they also say to plunge-route the saddle slot, which i did not do

hopefully bone is better than just acceptable

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Let me put it this way. While Fishman makes a fine pickup, when it comes to their whole "don't use bone" thing, they are full of shit. And we are one of the largest Fishman dealers in the world, so I have some experience with this.

YOU should never try to rout the saddle slot on your guitar (you don't have the tools, or the experience), but it is important for the saddle slot to be perfectly flat for the pickup to work its best. This is why it is best to have a professional install your pickup.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi