Removing glued saddle

[gstring]

Hello folks.

I am looking at buying an acoustic guitar. The seller says it has an under saddle pickup installed and the action is a little high. He also says the saddle is glued in.

How difficult would removing the saddle and pickup be ?

Thanks for any advise.

[BradHall]

Several variables involved. If the under saddle pick up is working cleanly it’s unlikely the saddle had glue on the bottom edge, although not impossible I suppose. Can you determine if the saddle is plastic or bone or something else?
I would first try pulling straight up with some pliers.(tape the grooves on the jaws). Try a gentle tap on the end of the saddle using a piece of wood to tap against. Not hard, just to see if it breaks the bond.

[John Arnold]

Anyone who glued a saddle that has an under saddle transducer is brainless, to put it mildly.

[FrankR]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

Anyone who glued a saddle that has an under saddle transducer is brainless, to put it mildly.

Yeah. If a seller admitted that, I would have to take a hard pass.
That's a major, major foul.
If someone did that, what other nasty hacks lurk?

[soma5]

Originally Posted by FrankR

Yeah. If a seller admitted that, I would have to take a hard pass.
That's a major, major foul.
If someone did that, what other nasty hacks lurk?

The question I have is, why did it seem like a good idea to glue the saddle on top of an undersaddle transducer? There must have been a problem that, to the person doing the modification, could not be solved without the use of glue. I am scratching my head on this one.

There are so many great guitars out there at every price range. Most of them are without these sorts of issues. Is it possible to pass this one up and get one of the problem-free ones?

[John Arnold]

In general, gluing a saddle is the way to ensure against saddle lean, which can lead to a cracked bridge. Taller saddles are more susceptible to leaning since the side force on the saddle is greater.
Saddles used with a UST tend to be fitted on the loose side, in order to make the pickup function properly.
Loose fit + tall saddle = saddle lean = cracked bridge.
As an aside, a leaning saddle can shorten the string length, which will cause sharp intonation.

To answer the original question, there are two techniques I use to soften the glue. With CA, I brush on acetone. With wood glue, I use heat. That is accomplished with a 250 watt heat lamp. The heat shield to protect the finish is white poster board with a 1/4" wide slot cut in it to expose the saddle area.
I use pliers or end cutters to grab and pull on the saddle.
If the saddle breaks off, I rout through the middle of it with a 1/16" bit to collapse and remove the remaining bits.

[phavriluk]

Soma, there's no telling 'why'. Somebody did something they had no idea about. And had no idea that they had no idea.

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by gstring

Hello folks.

I am looking at buying an acoustic guitar. The seller says it has an under saddle pickup installed and the action is a little high. He also says the saddle is glued in.

How difficult would removing the saddle and pickup be ?

Thanks for any advise.

At least he told you it was glued in, so he's probably not hiding anything. The people who tell you as little as possible are the ones to avoid.

Listen to John Arnold's advice. The saddle situation can be alleviated. If you like the guitar otherwise it's not a hard fix, but something that should be taken into account price wise.

Regards,
Howard Emerson

[Rogerblair]

Originally Posted by phavriluk

Soma, there's no telling 'why'. Somebody did something they had no idea about. And had no idea that they had no idea.

That’s correct. The “unconscious incompetent” thing raises its ugly head.

Rb

[Fathand]

I suppose the worst case scenario, if saddle removal fails, would be to either rout out the saddle slot or replace the entire bridge.

[gstring]

A happy ending to this story.

Saddle was not glued....just really tight.

Well, I guess everyone has to take back their opinions.. lol lol lol

Thanks ( as usual )

d

[John Arnold]

It is still a case of malpractice, since an under saddle transducer will not function correctly unless the saddle fit is on the loose side.