Question about Making a Saddle

[SimonFL]

I'd like to try making a new saddle fir my Garrison. I found a link to these instructions on frets.com in another thread. http://frets.com/FretsPages/Musician...wsaddle01.html

The saddle on it now has a compensated b string. The saddle is 1/8 of an inch wide except under the b string its about an 1/16 or 1/8 inch wider. If a make a new saddle out a 1/8 inch wide blank there will be a gap between the saddle and the back side of the slot in the bridge under tge b string. Will this cause any problems?

[nacluth]

Yeah, leaving the gap is probably not the best idea. I doubt your saddle would break, but changes in stress and uneven contact may damage the bridge over time. Should be an easy enough fix though. Fit a piece of wood in the gap (hopefully rosewood colored), sand it to fit, put a new saddle in. Shouldn't be too bad.

[martingitdave]

Send the existing saddle to Bob Colosi and let him copy the shape in whatever material you want. That will not be easy to replicate without the proper tools. Note all your strings seems to have a bit of compensation. Added difficulty. I would order a set of bone bridge pins to go with it. Not expensive and a good experiment.


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[murrmac123]

Your guitar may well require that extra width at the B string to get the compensation correct.

If it were mine, I would make a separate saddle for the B string out of a thicker piece of bone. It's not a difficult job, just get the right thickness by trial and error.

And yes, you would end up with three separate saddles ... no big deal.

[arie]

if you look closely the break area falls easily within the width of the majority of the saddle. that silly outcropping garrison put there is just, -lame. interestingly some G20's have it and some don't.

were it mine i'd make a replacement without that lump and patch in the pocket in the bridge with a piece of rosewood.

but there are other things to consider such as your action and the guitars neck angle to think about. not easy to diagnose remotely though. but imo, i think a good direction to go would be to make a standard saddle. without the lump.

[Ned Milburn]

I have worked on a few Garrison guitars recently. The extension on the B string is not the full depth of the saddle - only about 1mm. You will have NO structural issues by replacing it with a standard saddle. The saddle slot is wide enough and well enough placed that you shouldn't have any intonation troubles with any of the strings, except perhaps the low E string. (There isn't a great deal of angle in the saddle slot, so you might not be able to compensate the low E saddle back far enough.)

A general maintenance note: because these guitars have a wooden top glued onto carbon fibre bracing, you'll want to be very careful to keep humidity stable and not-too-high not-too-low. Also, the bridges are moderately thin, with the wings tapering very quickly, so they can be prone to the dreaded saddle slot crack (a crack extending along the line of the saddle slot into the bridge wings). Again, careful humidification is key.

[SimonFL]

Thank you for all the replies

I actually had to have two cracks repaired on the back two years ago. Back then I didnt pay attention to humidity at all and I suspected if the mix of carbon fiber bracing and solid wood was part of the problem, since all my other guitars were fine.

The guitar has a ust. Would a 3 piece saddle cause problems with the ust?

Are there any sites or youtube videos other than frets.com that have good instructions for making a saddle?

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by SimonFL

Thank you for all the replies

I actually had to have two cracks repaired on the back two years ago. Back then I didnt pay attention to humidity at all and I suspected if the mix of carbon fiber bracing and solid wood was part of the problem, since all my other guitars were fine.

The guitar has a ust. Would a 3 piece saddle cause problems with the ust?

Are there any sites or youtube videos other than frets.com that have good instructions for making a saddle?

I don't see any advantage to a 3 piece saddle compared to a standard saddle in your situation.

The key 3 points I can give when making your own saddle is to:

1) Match the camber of the saddle top with the fretboard end radius (easy to do by putting the blank at the end of the fretboard and scribing the curve of the last frets).
2) Make sure there is a clear cut-off point from which the strings vibrate.
3) Shape the area from peak to back of saddle so that the string makes full contact. A gentle curve is good for this. Reason is to help prevent/slow strings from making pressure grooves in the saddle, thus changing the action slightly.

[GarrisonGuy]

Originally Posted by Ned Milburn

I have worked on a few Garrison guitars recently. The extension on the B string is not the full depth of the saddle - only about 1mm. You will have NO structural issues by replacing it with a standard saddle. The saddle slot is wide enough and well enough placed that you shouldn't have any intonation troubles with any of the strings, except perhaps the low E string. (There isn't a great deal of angle in the saddle slot, so you might not be able to compensate the low E saddle back far enough.)

A general maintenance note: because these guitars have a wooden top glued onto carbon fibre bracing, you'll want to be very careful to keep humidity stable and not-too-high not-too-low. Also, the bridges are moderately thin, with the wings tapering very quickly, so they can be prone to the dreaded saddle slot crack (a crack extending along the line of the saddle slot into the bridge wings). Again, careful humidification is key.

Hello Ned Milburn,
I know this is a stupid question, but is the bridge of a Garrison glued to the top/soundboard or to the bracing? I have one that hasn't actually lifted yet but the glue along the bottom edge is "drying out" . I'm worried that it may be even more complicated than a standard bridge replacement. Any advice is appreciated!

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by GarrisonGuy

Hello Ned Milburn,
I know this is a stupid question, but is the bridge of a Garrison glued to the top/soundboard or to the bracing? I have one that hasn't actually lifted yet but the glue along the bottom edge is "drying out" . I'm worried that it may be even more complicated than a standard bridge replacement. Any advice is appreciated!

It is glued to the soundboard top. But there are 2 locating pins (extensions of the one-piece molded bracing system that protrude through holes in the soundboard/bridgeplate) that fit into similar holes drilled into the underside of the bridge.

[GarrisonGuy]

Thanks, I really appreciate your knowledge!