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  #1  
Old 03-22-2018, 01:13 PM
Rodgers Rodgers is offline
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Default Adjustable saddle.

I have a Harmony Sovereign H1266, which I purchased in 1969. I love the guitar, even though it suffered through neglect in my youth. I have noticed that some people claim that the adjustable saddle is a tone-killer, recommending that it be replaced with a fixed one. I am very happy with the tone and volume of the guitar, even though I am using silk and steel strings out of respect for its age. I would love to hear any views on the matter
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Old 03-22-2018, 03:31 PM
lowrider lowrider is offline
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''I am very happy with the tone and volume of the guitar''

Yes, ''they'' do say that you have to get rid of your adjustable saddle. Sometimes ''they'' are wrong.

You answered the question with the sentence above.
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Old 03-22-2018, 03:58 PM
Cameleye Cameleye is offline
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I've always appreciated the old ceramic saddle adjustable plastic bridges of Gibsons from the early '60s. I'm in a very small minority though.
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Old 03-22-2018, 09:32 PM
semolinapilcher semolinapilcher is offline
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I would play on! There are so many other guitars to be had, if you ever want a different sound. Leave this one alone.

The lighter strings do take some of the load off the neck.
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Old 03-23-2018, 12:40 AM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameleye View Post
I've always appreciated the old ceramic saddle adjustable plastic bridges of Gibsons from the early '60s. I'm in a very small minority though.
The Gibson ceramic saddle adjustable bridges have a certain tone of their own that does have a fan base. I don't happen to be a particular fan of that tone, but it has its merits.

The Gibson rosewood saddle adjustable bridges, though, have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. (In my opinion.) I know I've never heard a good-sounding one.

Rodgers, the reason that Gibson's adjustable saddle bridges (and similar adjustable bridge saddles by other manufacturers) are unpopular with many acoustic guitar aficionados is that the metal in the mechanism that allows the saddle to be raised or lowered adds a significant amount of mass to the single most sensitive part of the top, namely the bridge. So that metal being right there does have an impact on the ability of the bridge to vibrate to its fullest extent.

But some folks swap out the stock bridge pins with brass bridge pins, which also add weight to the bridge and inhibit its ability to vibrate to its fullest extent, so it's at least partly a matter of personal taste.



Harmony adjustable bridge

If you're happy with the sound the guitar produces, then that's all there is to it.


Wade Hampton Miller
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Old 03-23-2018, 11:10 AM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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My 70s Epi has an adjustable saddle, it's my 'campfire' guitar these days, and I see no reason to do anything with it.
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Old 03-23-2018, 11:14 AM
Bax Burgess Bax Burgess is offline
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The limited points of contact of two washers when the saddle is raised is similar, in a limited way, to an archtop bridge. Why such a heavy saddle holder on the flattop is a mystery to me. I've spent some tinkering time with three of them, and they're ok, due to the guitars themselves being well made, I think, rather than the adjustable saddle's contributions.
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Old 03-23-2018, 12:51 PM
Athens Athens is offline
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Default Adj bridges

I had a 1965 J-45 NAT ADJ. I replaced the adjustable section with a hardwood insert That filled the oversized slot. It had a groove in it for a normal saddle. Improvement in tone was dramatic.

It also allowed me to keep the old adjustable section and a collector could put that back in if he wanted to.
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Old 03-23-2018, 03:56 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Rodgers, just so you have a better idea of why some guitarists really dislike adjustable saddle bridges on acoustic guitars, I thought I'd put a few photos from Frank Ford's Frets.com website into this post.

Here's a Gibson Hummingbird's adjustable saddle bridge:



Gibson adjustable saddle bridge

Here's the same bridge disassembled to show all the metal parts it uses:



Yikes!!

Here's the adjustable saddle bridge assembly on a scale:



Weight = 65 grams

Compare that to the weight of the conventional replacement bridge that Frank then put on the guitar:



Weight = 23.3 grams

So there's a weight difference of 41.7 grams on those. I don't know precisely how much additional weight the Harmony's adjustable bridge saddle mechanism adds to the top of your guitar, but it's safe to assume that it's similar.

Here's the link to that page at Frank Ford's website:

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luth.../hbirdbr1.html

Hope that makes sense.


whm
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Old 03-23-2018, 06:11 PM
Athens Athens is offline
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Default Adj bridge

Just a bit more on the matter.

The adjustable pieces raise the saddle so the only energy transferred to the sound board is through the two adjustment screws.
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Old 03-23-2018, 06:23 PM
Br1ck Br1ck is offline
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Everyone who has played or heard my 1965 Epiphone Texan has really liked it. It has a voice that works very well for a singer, and is plenty loud. A friend borrowed it at an open mic and fingerpicked it. Sounded great.

Now this was not Gibson's finest hour. I played six or seven J 45s that either had the adj bridge or an insert for a bone saddle that were fair to horrible, and two more that were pretty good, all 60s vintages. Counting my Texan, that was 3 of ten that were good guitars, more indicative of Gibson QC at the time than the bridge IMHO. Now weather you would like my Epi or not is up to you.

Did some recording with a mandolin last weekend and it was a perfect match, better than three other guitars I brought. So they have their place as just one more option to try on your tone quest.
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Old 03-23-2018, 06:41 PM
inadu ridge inadu ridge is offline
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I've owned 9 different 60s Gibsons with ADJ bridges and played dozens more.
I had a '65 J-50 ADJ with ceramic saddle converted by a great luthier to a standard type bridge/bone saddle. The guitar lost a lot of volume and didn't sound nearly as good afterward. Got rid of it.

It's interesting how many people absolutely hate the ADJ Gibsons, without having much experience with them.
I will say this, the wooden saddles generally don't produce great tone, like Wade said.
The best sounding J-45 I've ever played (includes a couple of banners) was a '63 model with the plastic hollow bridge and ceramic saddle. That thing ROARED. I still kick myself for not buying it.
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  #13  
Old 11-29-2019, 07:32 AM
Drupoet Drupoet is offline
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Default Adjustable Saddles w/Shims

Once I have have the height of the saddle to my playing style I pencil mark the saddle then take out the metal plate it sits on & the screws... set it up with shims and I have rosewood , bone & Tusq saddles (set up) depending on the sound I'm going for. There are so many variables , strings , pick or finger style , same model guitars can sound so different ..... sound is subjective , if you like it play it.
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