The new bridge saddles are an interesting concept, to be sure, and we wonÂ’t know what the consensus is until enough of them are out in the wild. Emerald is right to offer it as a non standard option, as these kind of saddles, though common in the electric guitar world, smack of heresy in the acoustic guitar world. Which is not to say that they donÂ’t work for acoustic guitars but, rather, that they represent a serious break with tradition(and most guitarists swear by what they have grown accustomed to over their guitar playing lives).
Emerald, being a small company, is perfectly positioned to do this, as the risk to them is minuscule relative to a Martin or Taylor.
IÂ’m interested to see just how long it takes for someone to commission an Emerald with these saddles and a moderate action to be used as a platform for playing acoustic and electric slide guitar.
Beyond that, this type of design looks to leave a buyer with the option of Graphtech piezos or maybe no acoustic pickup at all(yes, you can use an internal microphone but not, say, an LR Baggs Element/Anthem or a Schatten HFN, at least as far as I can see).
Anyway, good for you, Emerald, for continuing to push the envelope. I look forward of reading and seeing some reviews of this new design and I also look forward to seeing some demos from folks like Mark Black and Davy K.
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