Best way to raise a saddle slightly

BigBear
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:02 am
Status: Offline

Thu Nov 12, 2009 7:27 pm

goldleaf wrote:
Michele, A little trick to make changing the saddle easier-- loosen the strings, put a capo on the 1s fret, pull the Pins out and you are free to work on the saddle or fretboard w/o having to unstring and restring your guitar. Gary

Gary- Great tip! Here's some karma for you!! :cheer:


quincy451
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:53 pm
Status: Offline

Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:55 pm

I can't really add anything here accept to say I have done both nut and saddle replacement myself. That is the best way to raise a saddle and get the best sound. It also well worth it to keep your original and do the work on the new one. If you mess it up, you can simply get a new one and try again or put the old one back on...and be no worse for where.

A sanding tip for those who want to do this and have the eye hand skills of a blind man. That would be me. Ok not blind but man. Ok do this. Get a vise for a drill press, from harbor freight and a dremal like sanding tool. Mark your line on the new saddle where you want to sand to with pencil or pen. You will never see that mark. Place in the vise so that only the material to be removed sticks out and sand level to the top of the vise. If the vise is tight it should be physically impossible to take off more than what you want.

I was very satisfied with my results. And I like the fact I can change it daily if I want. I did change it once but that was the nut. I made the nut a litle higher but didn't like the playability of that at all.

With the saddle I would measure at the 12th fret and figure out how much raise you want to give it there for the low E and high E. Then double that figure and the how much taller the new saddle needs to be.

Good luck.


wiley
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:26 am
Status: Offline

Thu Nov 12, 2009 10:02 pm



goldleaf
Posts: 0
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:04 am
Status: Offline

Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:30 pm

BigBear wrote:
goldleaf wrote:
Michele, A little trick to make changing the saddle easier-- loosen the strings, put a capo on the 1s fret, pull the Pins out and you are free to work on the saddle or fretboard w/o having to unstring and restring your guitar. Gary

Gary- Great tip! Here's some karma for you!! :cheer:
Thanks Andy, I can use all the Karma I can get. Gary


AndyT
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:06 am
Status: Offline

Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:48 am

Anytime Gary. But I think it was Bear who gave you that comment. But I'll be happy to accept on his behalf. LOL :laugh:


michelew
Posts: 87
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:43 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia
Status: Offline

Fri Nov 13, 2009 3:17 am

Thanks for all the info WIley and the great tip Gary. That will save me heaps of time and hassle.

Re: my set up - the nut was adjusted (make a huge difference) as was the truss rod. I was saying that the neck was not removable, as I though someone was suggesting that the neck should be reset by physically removing it from the body and shimming or somehow raising the way it connects the the body.

I have the new Tusq saddle (and the fine sand paper) - now I need to find the time to do it very carefully (probably over and over again until I'm happy with it - i.e. file it, reassemble, too high, sand it, reassemble, too high.,..) so I don't overshoot. Wish me luck! How exciting.....


AndyT
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:06 am
Status: Offline

Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:17 am

Michelle,
All the pros and cons of this have been laid out for you. I persoanlly would do it myself, but that's because I know what I'm doing. Mostly, I strongly recommend people take it to a quality luthier. They can be a bit difficult to find when you first start looking, but go to a few music teachers that do not work for a particular store, or a few local players and ask who they use. Chances are you will come up with 2 or 3 names that keep getting repeated over and over. These are the guys to check out.

Good luck with it!

(I'm gone for a couple of days and the forum threads take on a whole new life! Gotta read faster!)


goldleaf
Posts: 0
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 10:04 am
Status: Offline

Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:43 pm

Michelle, you shouldn't have any problems, one thing to watch for. When I was sanding down my saddle I noticed that if I held the saddle and kept sanding with the saddle in the same direction one end was a little lower, I guess I pushed a little harder than I pulled so I started turning the saddle around every so often so it would stay equal. There are probably better ways to avoid that, but you should be all right if you have a good line to follow. Gary


michelew
Posts: 87
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:43 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia
Status: Offline

Sat Nov 14, 2009 12:52 am

Gary - I've upped your karma - the capo trick was a good one.

Unfortunately, once I took the strings off and removed the saddle I realised that the new saddle was a little too short. Yep - I should have measured it properly before hand , but was obviously a little enthusiastic. I went to my local music store and there was only one model of Tusq saddle for sale and no other compatible saddle (I returned the one I purchased of course).

Well I then trawled Sydney music shops using the internet. I thought I'd tracked one down, after driving to the shop and back (over an hour round trip) I'm no better off. Apparently the model I purchased is good for the vast majority of acoustic guitars (which is why the stores stock it), but not Yamahas. After more searching I found one in the US. I have a kit on its way to me. So I'll let you know how it pans out.

Sounded simple enough - as always its more complex in the execution.

My trusty Yamaha is back in one piece, so 'it's all good'.


Michele


Chasplaya
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:41 pm
Status: Offline

Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:07 am

michelew wrote:
Thanks for all the info WIley and the great tip Gary. That will save me heaps of time and hassle.

Re: my set up - the nut was adjusted (make a huge difference) as was the truss rod. I was saying that the neck was not removable, as I though someone was suggesting that the neck should be reset by physically removing it from the body and shimming or somehow raising the way it connects the the body.

I have the new Tusq saddle (and the fine sand paper) - now I need to find the time to do it very carefully (probably over and over again until I'm happy with it - i.e. file it, reassemble, too high, sand it, reassemble, too high.,..) so I don't overshoot. Wish me luck! How exciting.....
When the new saddle arrives use this link for guidance:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musicia ... ion01.html


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic