Saddle: Bone glued to Rosewood?

GuitarFundi · #1 10-01-2018, 07:08 PM

I had a local luthier/tech make me a compensated bone saddle. They told me they did not hav a piece of bone handy that was tall enough, so they glued a Rosewood shim on bottom of the short bone to get it high enough. Sooooo, is that reasonable? Doesnt it defeat the purpose and tonal characteristics of having a bone saddle when you “glue” a “Rosewwod shim” onto the bone saddle? I now have bone, glue and wood in the contact chain btwn top and strings. Thoughts?

Monsoon1 · #2 10-01-2018, 07:35 PM

I think it comes down to whether it make an audible difference or not.
And it's possible that the bone already sits in what is likely rosewood, so I can't imagine this making any noticeable difference over what it would have been without the shim.
If you picture the entire motor of the soundboard with bracing, back plate, bridge, even finish, the shim seems to be a very minute change.

charles Tauber · #3 10-01-2018, 08:41 PM

I don’t expect the shim to make any audible difference. However, it seems a little odd that a “luthier/tech” wouldn’t have sufficient bone saddle inventory to not have to resort to that. In the absence of having the ideal material s, one would expect him or her to obtain what is necessary to do a top notch job.

mirwa · #4 10-01-2018, 09:14 PM

It would make very little difference IMO, typically the bone interfaces with wood at the bottom of the saddle anyway so acoustically I would not envisage much difference.

It is however, IMO a very unorthodox way of doing said repair, they could have glued two lengths of bone together and shaped it up if it was not tall enough. Aesthetically that would be more pleasing and you would not have even raised a question to it, as it would not have been noticeable.

Steve

Frank Ford · #5 10-01-2018, 09:23 PM

Perfectly "sound procedure," you betcha. . .

mercy · #6 10-02-2018, 06:49 AM

I had an expensive bone, I dont recall the letters but it wasnt cow, saddle ground too low by a tech who then glued some rosewood to it but the wonderful tone was destroyed. I wondered about that cause you might think well theres wood under there anyway. My guess is that there is less whatever of bone which has a different character then wood. Anyway it mad a difference on that guitar, I might as well have had cow bone. So lost expense and sound. Take it back and get it done properly.

John Arnold · #7 10-02-2018, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Aesthetically that would be more pleasing

If it is on the bottom of the saddle and buried in the slot, the aesthetics would be unchanged........unless it is a through slot.

I have done this on several occasions using rosewood or ebony, with no audible difference. IMHO, it is important that the shim be glued on, preferably with CA. In my experience, a loose shim can have a negative effect.

redir · #8 10-02-2018, 12:05 PM

If it's a vintage saddle or I'm trying to save someone money then I would do that. Otherwise just order the right stuff if you don't have it.

What you would never want to do is glue a shim into the bottom of the saddle slot, I've seen it done before.

tadol · #9 10-02-2018, 02:48 PM

As Frank Ford said, it’s a perfectly fine way to do it, and if you have a good tech, you’ll never know the difference. If you have a poor tech, it doesn’t matter what technique they use, you might very well have an issue -

rockabilly69 · #10 10-02-2018, 03:17 PM

I've seen and heard more than a few bone capped saddles with both rosewood and ebony, and guess what, they all sounded fine!

D. Churchland · #11 10-17-2018, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuitarFundi

I had a local luthier/tech make me a compensated bone saddle. They told me they did not hav a piece of bone handy that was tall enough, so they glued a Rosewood shim on bottom of the short bone to get it high enough. Sooooo, is that reasonable? Doesnt it defeat the purpose and tonal characteristics of having a bone saddle when you “glue” a “Rosewwod shim” onto the bone saddle? I now have bone, glue and wood in the contact chain btwn top and strings. Thoughts?

Curious who the luthier was that did the work?

GuitarFundi · #12 10-18-2018, 08:14 PM

The Luthier/Tech I do not believe is a true Luthier, but a VERY highly trained and experienced tech that can disassemble and reassemble a guitar and has worked for some very respected artists we all know. The tech is a bit of a grumpy curmudgeon which is fine as a I have been accused of the same so I like grumpy curmudgeons, but it was get it done that day or next month and so the tech got it done that day. I would rather have waited to get it done perfect, but the option was not offered. Just delivered that way and frankly I didn't have it in me that day to complain about something I was not knowledgeable enough in to put my dog into the fight.

You cannot see the wood.

Very appreciative of all the replies.

tadol · #13 10-18-2018, 09:51 PM

Fur these kinda things a tech may be a much better choice than a luthier - and I’d say it was done perfect -

D. Churchland · #14 10-19-2018, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuitarFundi

The Luthier/Tech I do not believe is a true Luthier, but a VERY highly trained and experienced tech that can disassemble and reassemble a guitar and has worked for some very respected artists we all know. The tech is a bit of a grumpy curmudgeon which is fine as a I have been accused of the same so I like grumpy curmudgeons, but it was get it done that day or next month and so the tech got it done that day. I would rather have waited to get it done perfect, but the option was not offered. Just delivered that way and frankly I didn't have it in me that day to complain about something I was not knowledgeable enough in to put my dog into the fight.

You cannot see the wood.

Very appreciative of all the replies.

I was just curious who it was. I like to meet guys and usually try to learn a thing or two.