Saddle TIGHTNESS?

[SKYHIGH]

Hi,

How tight of fitting do you prefer for saddle in bridge? So tight you need a tool to pull it out? Little room so it can easily be pulled using fingers?

When the saddle is tightly in the bridge, how do you get it out without damaging the saddle? I tried plier once and it chipped the bone saddle. Any tricks?

Thank you

[Howard Klepper]

Parallel jaw pliers.

[stringjunky]

When my just-built guitar came the saddle was just a bit too tight for my fingers alone but came out easily with a pair of pincers lightly gripped on it... I put a thin cloth over the saddle first.

[dekutree64]

I like it to be tight enough that it doesn't fall out with the guitar upside down, but loose enough that I can pull it out with my fingers. If it's too loose, it can tip up on its edge under string pressure, reducing contact with the bottom of the slot. It it's too tight, then it might not make it to the bottom of the slot at all.

Flush ground fret nippers work well to pull out too-tight saddles.

[dberkowitz]

I guess I'm an outlier. I've seen too many saddles too tight. I like mine as a slip fit -- easy to pull out with my fingers and will just drop out on its own. I find that this works best as the saddle doesn't get jammed if the guitar goes to a humid climate, and more importantly it allows the saddle to move easily unimpeded on an under saddle pickup. I find too tight a fit impedes the saddle from sitting down on the element and creates balance problems.

[Tim McKnight]

+1 What David said. I've always dimensioned our saddles to a slip fit for the same reasons.

[redir]

I learned that you ought to be able to just about pick up the guitar by the saddle and the fit is just right. To pull them out I use a set of fret end nippers. But it depends. If there is a UST style pickup then the saddle needs to be loose. I can see a good argument for going looser though. The saddle will not shrink but the bridge will.