Saddle has litteraly fallen down into the bridge ! (pics)

[runamuck]

Originally Posted by pac man

Thanks Steve. So it's not a shim or something.
I didn't know that the sound was amplified from here, that's weird.
Can I put a shim on it and then put my saddle on top of that?

No, the saddle needs to sit directly on the copper strip.

[pac man]

Originally Posted by redir

Interesting. This doesn't just 'happen.' Was the saddle difficult to remove or does it fit loosely in the slot?

Do you ever play it plugged in? If so did it sound balanced across all strings? If anything you might notice you have way better tone now.

You would want to shim under the red strip which is the pickup. Try to find some wood veneer to make shims out of. Plastic cutoffs from an old credit card will work in a pinch.

The saddle was a bit difficult to remove, but not so hard, just had to shake it a bit from side to side during 10 seconds and it came off.

Yep I've already played plugged in a few years ago, it sounded great, even greater than unplugged.

I don't know why this saddle was so low.

So you suggest I put a shim under the pickup? You mean I remove the pickup (assuming it can be removed, I think there should be wires or something?) and place a shim under that pickup ?

[pac man]

Originally Posted by runamuck

No, the saddle needs to sit directly on the copper strip.

you mean:

------ saddle
------ shim
------ pickup


OR

------ saddle
------ pickup
------ shim

[redir]

Originally Posted by pac man

The saddle was a bit difficult to remove, but not so hard, just had to shake it a bit from side to side during 10 seconds and it came off.

Yep I've already played plugged in a few years ago, it sounded great, even greater than unplugged.

I don't know why this saddle was so low.

So you suggest I put a shim under the pickup? You mean I remove the pickup (assuming it can be removed, I think there should be wires or something?) and place a shim under that pickup ?

Yes put the shim under the pickup. The pickup should be easily removed with the wire still attached. IF you feel like you have to fore it then be careful and have a look around and on the inside of the guitar. Sometimes the wires are held tightly against the inside sides of the guitar with clips. You need to have a bit of slack in the wire.

Typically for piezo under saddle pickups like you have you want to have the saddle fit somewhat loosely. So you might want to thin that out a bit unless after shimming it fits better.

The previous mentioned hypothesis's made sense, that your saddle was fit too tight and never settled to the bottom of the saddle slot until finally it just dropped down for what ever reason. But since your electronic sound was good then I don't think that is the case. The saddle has to fit nicely on the piezo pickup in order to have a balanced sound. So if the saddle was 'floating' above it in the saddle slot then that makes no sense.

So that is a strange situation indeed.

Ideally BTW you should get a new saddle rather then shim up especially with a picup. They can be finicky.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by pac man

I'm in Paris
I checked the guitar bridge, no termites

Well, maybe one of those use cockroaches you get there used to live under the saddle, and moved (or died)?

[phavriluk]

I think there is a lot of overthinking going on here. Look at the saddle picture, the corner of the saddle anyway after it was removed from the bridge. It's been cut (sanded?) down to hardly anything. I don't think the audience has the whole story, which I suspect is quite innocent, no flying saucers, bloating soundboards or saddles boring into the bridge. The saddle's been cut down.

[pac man]

Yep the saddle has been filed or cut there is a thin pen line on it at the bottom where it has been filed.



Ok so I put a first shim (a piece of credit card) it has improved a little bit the buzzing, so i put a second one, didn't change a lot. I didn't feel cool about putting the shims directly under the pickup so I put them on top of it.
Here are some pics (yep I broke the G string in the process). The action is a bit high now but it's normal with the 2 shims.
I don't know where this buzz come from... Strings are probably too old (maybe 5/6 years old)
I've also recorded a sound for you to hear the b and e strings (played softly, and played harder that's when they buzz).Thanks again for your help and support I don't feel lonely

sound : https://vocaroo.com/i/s1vjt6b7SMze

[runamuck]

THIS:

Originally Posted by pac man

------ saddle
------ pickup
------ shim

...otherwise the pickup won't be as responsive as it's meant to be.


Also, your buzzing B string can be due to several things. It could be the string that needs to be replaced, the nut slot may be the cause or possibly the saddle.

[pac man]

[deleted, double post]

[pac man]

Originally Posted by runamuck

THIS:
------ saddle
------ pickup
------ shim
...otherwise the pickup won't be as responsive as it's meant to be.


Also, your buzzing B string can be due to several things. It could be the string that needs to be replaced, the nut slot may be the cause or possibly the saddle.

I was just testing with a shim over the pickup because I don't plan to play plugged in for the moment and I was a bit unsure how to proceed without making a disaster so it's okay by now and if it sounded better I would have bought a new saddle. Unfortunatly the improvment is not that big.
Maybe this little buzzing is normal after all, it only happens when I strum the strings hard.
I will replace the strings tomorrow and remove a shim since it's a bit high now, and see what happens.

[runamuck]

The buzzing isn't what was intended by Taylor Guitars.

There's an issue somewhere along the line. I wasn't clear when I said it could be the saddle: what I meant was the problem could be due to the way the string intersects the saddle. Is it perfectly smooth at the point the string crosses it? But I'd suggest the nut might be the cause over the saddle. You'd probably want to take it to a luthier to have it checked out. It shouldn't cost much.

[pac man]

Yes it is smooth as you can see on the pics. Yep I don't know any luthier in my place but I will definitely see one, I love this guitar and it also has a sentimental value for me for other reasons.

In fact I am realising that the saddle has certainly been low like this since I own the guitar, it's impossible it has fallen down. I remember the B string has always buzzed a little bit. At that time i've looked for a fix on the internet and noticed that several people complain about this B string buzzing, without any explanation, on all guitar brands, and leave it as is. So do I.

But recently the B and e strings start buzzing more, and it's probably due to the fact strings are too old, as simple as that. I think I've overcomplicated things trying to look for any other reason. Well the saddle seemed very low too, so it's a good thing to replace it as well.

Anyway I will know tomorrow with new strings, and will update the thread. I'll also remove one of the 2 shims, and maybe set the truss road too as you are right the curve doesn't seem right, action seems too high since a few months. The last time I've set it up was a few years ago.


Thanks again guys, you rock !!

[pac man]

Strings replacement didn't remove the buzzing
I've adjusted the relief (truss rod set up), removed one of the 2 shims from under the saddle, cleaned everything, and now I have 3 strings buzzing : D G B. The e string doesn't buzz anymore.
Strings are D'addario EJ16 light (12/53).
The more my right hand strum close to the neck base, the more important is the buzzing. When I strum close to the bridge there are almost no buzz.
The action is perfect I've mesured it (3mm for E and 2.5mm for e), and strings don't touch the neck when they vibrate. The buzzing seems to come from the area I've marked on the pic below.
When I shake the guitar there are some stuff moving inside it in this area, I think it's pickup cables or electronics. Maybe they cause this buzzing? I can't see anything else as the source of this buzz. It's driving me nuts...

[John Arnold]

Pickup wiring can buzz inside the guitar, particularly if it touches the top. Another cause of buzzing is worn frets.

[JLS]

What you're describing doesn't, "just happen".