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Old 05-03-2021, 02:03 PM
gtrboy77 gtrboy77 is offline
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Default Guitar setup - nut and saddle

Hi folks, I am almost finished with my first acoustic guitar that I built completely from scratch, including the design. The only thing left to do it make the nut and saddle and string it up. I had a few questions about it before I start. First, which should I start with (nut or saddle)? Second, what is a good starting height above the fretline to mark the nut to cut the string slots to depth? And third, when creating the saddle height, what is a good rule of thumb to shoot for action so that I know how high to make it? Thank you for any info...
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Old 05-03-2021, 06:08 PM
RonMay RonMay is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gtrboy77 View Post
Hi folks, I am almost finished with my first acoustic guitar that I built completely from scratch, including the design. The only thing left to do it make the nut and saddle and string it up. I had a few questions about it before I start. First, which should I start with (nut or saddle)? Second, what is a good starting height above the fretline to mark the nut to cut the string slots to depth? And third, when creating the saddle height, what is a good rule of thumb to shoot for action so that I know how high to make it? Thank you for any info...
Are you making the bridge or buying one?

1. Nut

2 Bridge/saddle : intonation to find the location of the saddle.

3. Action and string height.

This is my understanding of what is needed when.

Ron
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Old 05-03-2021, 07:21 PM
gtrboy77 gtrboy77 is offline
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I made the bridge. I found the location of the saddle, but the idea of filing compensation into the top of the saddle is a bit confusing.


Quote:
Originally Posted by RonMay View Post
Are you making the bridge or buying one?

1. Nut

2 Bridge/saddle : intonation to find the location of the saddle.

3. Action and string height.

This is my understanding of what is needed when.

Ron
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  #4  
Old 05-04-2021, 05:45 AM
Robin, Wales Robin, Wales is offline
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Wow, it sounds like a great project!

Firstly, don’t expect to get your nut or bridge perfect first time – so buy more than one blank to work with. And buy just a cheap set of strings that you are going to use while doing your set-up because you will kill them through constantly taking them on and off.

I would make the nut first, but you sort of can’t do that until you have some sort of saddle installed. So I would buy a cheap ready-made saddle off ebay just to drop in the slot while working on the nut. You can do much of the nut shaping away from the guitar but, to maximise your string spacing, I find it best to fit the two outer strings and rest them on the nut blank once it is in rough shape to find the optimum position for the outer strings given the fret bevel you have ended up with and to ensure the strings stay the same distance away from the fretboard edge for their whole length. I will mark these outer string positions on the nut and then set my individual string spacing. For the string spacing you can use equal centres, proportional centres or equal spaces. My preference is for proportional centres which you would get by using something like the StuMac nut gauge. Or I would use equal centres. Equal spaces takes more complex math and I always feel ends up with the treble strings too close together (but it probably looks the neatest.)

The nut slots usually are cut to be very, very slightly higher than the first fret – definitely no lower. For my final cuts I use the cheap and dirty method of fretting each string between the 2nd and 3rd fret and looking for a hair of clearance over the first fret, no more.

Saddle blank – Make sure it fits the slot just snug. Make sure that the top is the same radius as the fretboard. For your first attempt simply make a straight saddle with a rounded top. As long as your saddle slot is in the right place and slightly angled for intonation then there is no need to individually compensate each string – for the vast majority of players. And, personally, I believe that you will get a mellower tone off of an old style rounded topped non-compensated saddle than by trying to intonate the saddle top (which moves the release point to the edge of the saddle and makes it narrower). For the saddle height I would go for an action at the 12th fret of 2.5mm bass side to 2mm treble side. You must have the nut finished and the neck relief set before assessing the saddle height. If your neck set angle is good and bridge itself is the right height, then your finished saddle height sticking out of the bridge with this action should look right. You are probably aiming for something around 3.5mm of saddle clear of the bridge in its middle (slightly more on the bass side and slightly less on the treble side). Really that’s just about as close a measurement as I can give because every guitar will be a little different. There are a lot of factors to balance.

See what I mean about the strings coming on and off numerous times during the set-up!

As I said, don’t expect to get the nut or saddle right first time. I have probably made 60 or 70 nuts and saddles at least, if not more, and most likely thrown that number again in the bin!

Good luck.
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Last edited by Robin, Wales; 05-04-2021 at 05:56 AM.
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  #5  
Old 05-04-2021, 06:36 AM
gtrboy77 gtrboy77 is offline
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Thank you for all the great info, Robin. My brother is coming to visit in about six weeks, so I’m hoping to have it all done, string up and sounding great. Thanks again.
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