Does the addition of a wood shim compromise the sound?

[gerardo1000]

I have a beautiful Guild D-140 dread, brand new, bought at Elderly. After a few hours of playing, and after having properly adjusted the neck relief, I noticed that the action is a bit too low (2.5/32 at the 12th fret on the low E and a bit less than 2.0/32 on the high e.). When I strum and/or flatpick (I usually play fingerstyle) there is some strings buzz. I would like to avoit to throw away the original bone saddle, and I found in my drawer some wood shims, of different thickness, that I got from Bob Colosi a couple of years ago and never used. They have the right length but are just a tiny bit narrow i.e. their surface is 1/32 of an inch less wide than the saddle, still enough to make the saddle stable. Do you think that the addition of this shim to the saddle in order to get the right strings action, could alter the quality of the tone ? I have a Micarta saddle that would fit perfectly the bridge slot of my Guild, and will raise the action properly, but I am afraid that with Micarta I would lose some clarity. Any opinion ? Thanks!

[Paddy1951]

I have shimmed my saddles using hardwood shims. I could not hear any difference. I think if Bob Colosi is OK with this approach, we should be too.

Of course, YMMV.

As for Micarta, try it. It may smooth out some of your guitar's articulation. That can be good or not depending on your needs.

[Dino Silone]

Before doing that, have you checked the relief on the neck? It may have changed during shipping, and it may be that all you need is a truss rod adjustment. If you find the relief is good, then maybe going with a new saddle wouldn’t be a bad idea. You can get a new unbleached bone saddle blank at StewMac for under $10, and then just file it to exactly what you need.

But, to answer your original question, yes, a shim might change the tone a little. It might be so little that you can’t even hear it. Shimming (without glueing) is a very reversible operation. Why not just try it and see what happens? You can always just take it out again and make a new bone saddle.

[Osage]

When I get guitars in my shop like you describe and the owner doesn't want to pay for a new saddle, I will make an ebony or bone shim and it's totally fine. My customers are always happy with it. I will typically get the height set and then superglue it to the saddle. You can easily remove this with a razor blade/sand paper if you want.

[gfsark]

I’ve done this before when I needed to raise the action for some reason (can’t remember why) and I didn’t notice any difference. There are lots of reasons why it should make a difference, but buzzing strings make an even bigger difference to me. It’s easy to try, other than the annoyance of changing strings. And then changing them back if you don’t like it.

[gerardo1000]

OK thanks everybody, I will try it. My main concern is that the width of the shims that I got from Colosi is 3/32 of an inch while the width of the original saddle is 4/32 of an inch therefore the shim will cover most but not all the width of the saddle's base.

[hat]

If there is an undersaddle pickup, it might cause a change in how the pickup reacts. Micarta is noticeably softer than bone, so it will absorb some of the higher frequencies. sometimes that helps, making the sound less brittle.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by gerardo1000

I have a beautiful Guild D-140 dread, brand new, bought at Elderly. After a few hours of playing, and after having properly adjusted the neck relief, I noticed that the action is a bit too low (2.5/32 at the 12th fret on the low E and a bit less than 2.0/32 on the high e.). When I strum and/or flatpick (I usually play fingerstyle) there is some strings buzz. I would like to avoit to throw away the original bone saddle, and I found in my drawer some wood shims, of different thickness, that I got from Bob Colosi a couple of years ago and never used. They have the right length but are just a tiny bit narrow i.e. their surface is 1/32 of an inch less wide than the saddle, still enough to make the saddle stable. Do you think that the addition of this shim to the saddle in order to get the right strings action, could alter the quality of the tone ? I have a Micarta saddle that would fit perfectly the bridge slot of my Guild, and will raise the action properly, but I am afraid that with Micarta I would lose some clarity. Any opinion ? Thanks!

Hi g1000

My luthier glues a hardwood shim to the underside of the saddle then levels it properly and no loss is suffered that I can detect.

[DanR]

Originally Posted by Paddy1951

I think if Bob Colosi is OK with this approach, we should be too.

I purchased some ebony shims from Bob Colosi for my J-45, as the action was a little low and there wasn't a lot of saddle left (neck relief was fine). I ended up sanding/thinning the shim to get the action to where I wanted it. I could not tell any difference in the tone of the guitar afterwards.

[Willie_D]

I went to a local woodworking shop and bought a package of maple veneer. Superglued a saddle to the veneer, cut around the edge of the saddle, sanded the edges smooth, and presto.

I heard no difference other than the tambourine stopped.

[fazool]

Isn't a new saddle like $7 ?

If it concerns you, why shim it?

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by fazool

Isn't a new saddle like $7 ?

If it concerns you, why shim it?

My thoughts as well. Even a compensated bone saddle can be purchased for under $20.

[gerardo1000]

Yes but i cannot find compensated bone saddles with the dimensions of the Guild D-140 saddle. So I ordered from Stew Mac a non compensated bone saddle for Gibson, that slightly exceeds the dimensions of the Guild, and I will work with sandpaper to shape it as the Guild's saddle, only a tiny bit taller.

[Dino Silone]

Originally Posted by gerardo1000

Yes but i cannot find compensated bone saddles with the dimensions of the Guild D-140 saddle. So I ordered from Stew Mac a non compensated bone saddle for Gibson, that slightly exceeds the dimensions of the Guild, and I will work with sandpaper to shape it as the Guild's saddle, only a tiny bit taller.

That’s the way to go. You were talking about reducing the contact surface on the bottom of the saddle by 25%. It might not make a difference, but why monkey with it? With under $10 and an hour or so of sanding and shaping, you’ll have a new saddle that fits perfectly.

But really - check the relief first. You may only need to adjust the truss rod.

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by gerardo1000

After a few hours of playing, and after having properly adjusted the neck relief, I noticed that the action is a bit too low (2.5/32 at the 12th fret on the low E and a bit less than 2.0/32 on the high e.).

Gerardo, '2.5/32' is 5/64! Just sayin'!

Originally Posted by Dino Silone

But really - check the relief first. You may only need to adjust the truss rod.

Dino, he's already checked and set the neck relief. If he's set it correctly (as he says he has), and the action is too low, he needs to raise the saddle.

The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.