Loud b strong on McPherson sable

[JackDaniel]

Hey all. Need your help. Played plugged in with my McPherson sable and the b sting seemed so prominent and loud it was all I could hear! Managed to tone it down with my lr baggs di unit but wondering if anyone had any ideas of what might cause that?

[BlueStarfish]

Hmm. Usually when one string is really hot on an under saddle pick-up, it’s an install issue. If the bottom of the saddle slot isn’t perfectly flat, or if for some reason one part of the UST cable is pinched or under more pressure for whatever reason, any strings under that higher-pressure part of the saddle will play hot.

The good news is that, if I’m making the right guess, then this situation is completely fixable.

Did you buy the guitar locally? If so take it back to the store you bought it from and they should be able to sort it out pretty quickly.

If you bought it online, and it’s still new, you could consider to return it and ask the seller to fix it. But that’s a hassle, and there is a good chance this is very easy to fix, so if it were me, here’s what I would do:

1. Loosen the strings (but don’t take them off, just slack the tuning pegs)

2. Put a capo on about the 6th fret or so and tighten it up.

3. Pull out the bridge pins and pop the ball ends of the strings out of their holes. Leave the other ends of the strings attached to the tuning pegs (and held down by the capo).

4. Grab the saddle and pull it out. Look into the slot — you’ll see a grey braided cable. That’s the transducer.

5. Check that the bottom of the saddle is perfectly flat. I do this by setting it on my kitchen counter (which is stone and perfectly flat) and then looking to make sure no light is leaking through a gap between the saddle and countertop.

6. If there is either a high spot or gap on the saddle bottom, you’ll need to sand it down, just enough to smooth out the high spot or gap, but no more. Put a half sheet of 100 or 150 grit sandpaper down on the counter and rub the bottom of the saddle against that to grind it down. Be careful to keep the saddle as steady and straight-to-90 degrees as possible. Go slow, and every few strokes, check to see if you can stop. It shouldn’t take much, just a few strokes.

7. Reach into the soundhole, feel around under the saddle. There is one end of the transducer cable, usually on the bass side, that sticks through a small hole at the bottom of the saddle lot. With the saddle removed, it will be loose. Grab the cable from inside the cavity, and push a little bit of it through the hole.

8. The cable should flex a bit, and pop up. Don’t pull it out of that hole, just leave it to hang free for a moment.

9. Take a look in the saddle slot. See if you see any debris or any carbon fiber shaving or such, if so blow it out. On the Sable, there is a layer of rubbery stuff on the bottom of the slot, leave that there. But perhaps there is a fleck of carbon fiber shavings or something around the B string.

10. Using two hands (one inside the cavity, one outside), get the cable seated flat in the slot. Put the saddle back in and push it firmly in place.

11. From here, it’s like putting a set of strings on. Put all of the string ball ends and bridge pins back in place. Then take the capo off and tune the strings up to pitch.

12. Plug in and check it out. Any better?

I’ve had this set of steps solve the issue for me often enough to make it worth the bother. One time, the saddle actually had a gap — I sanded it slightly to flatten it. Another couple of times, the saddle was fine, but there must have been some sort of pinch or unevenness in how the transducer cable was sitting in the slot, and re-seating it solved the problem.

If these steps don’t help, then it’s possible that your saddle slot bottom is not perfectly flat. If that’s the case, it needs some slight sanding as well. But that requires some specialty luthier tools. Time for step 13 take it to a guitar tech that has good skills with acoustic guitars.

If all this sounds too complex — then you can just jump straight to the “go to good guitar tech” step.

[JackDaniel]

Amazing write up! I’ll give that a try this weekend!!!