Low G compensated saddle

zztush

zztush

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Do you have low G compensated saddle (blue line on the bottom figure)?

A friend of mine has a soprano high G. He wants to change his uku Log G. His uku has a high G compensation (green line on the figure below). We are going to change it just straight saddle (without any compensation). I know there are many log G players here. We are just wondering if anyone has a low G compensated saddle.

 
That's an interesting question and one I've never given any thought to! My most recent Kamaka that I play low G has a compensated saddle. I've never felt the need to change it - I have an older Kamaka also strung low G, that has a straight saddle, and my ears cannot detect any differences, good or bad, caused by the saddle.
 
Same here. I have many tenors in low G, some with compensated saddles some without and they all sound fine. It might be just luck but no intonation issues with any of them. A saddle that is ompensation for a certain string might not be correct for another brand that is a different material, diameter and tension.
 
IMO, for the average Joe, your fretting fingers are going to negatively adjust the intonation just as much as a compensated or straight saddle might "fix" it. So why bother?

Intonation on an 'ukulele is pretty much a stab in the dark anyways. I've played some pretty nice ukes. I don't recall any that had a compensated saddle. If they did, I certainly did not think, "Wow! This plays so much more in tune than every other uke I've ever played!"
 
I hope you try it with the saddle as-is to begin with. If you replace: I would just go straight saddle too if it were mine. The more I mess around with compensated saddles, especially on sopranos, I just don't think they make enough difference to bother with. There are plenty of ukes out there with straight saddles and great intonation. Think of the Flukes and Fleas for example.
I agree that strings used, and the way you play are huge factors too. Of course the height of the saddle comes into play as well.
You probably already know this, but just in case: Make sure the nut slot is wide enough so your new low G string doesn't bind in it and cause tuning stability issues.
 
Last edited:
jer said:
I hope you try it with the saddle as-is to begin with. If you replace: I would just go straight saddle too if it were mine. The more I mess around with compensated saddles, especially on sopranos, I just don't think they make enough difference to bother with. There are plenty of ukes out there with straight saddles and great intonation. Think of the Flukes and Fleas for example.
I agree that strings used, and the way you play are huge factors too. Of course the height of the saddle comes into play as well.
You probably already know this, but just in case: Make sure the nut slot is wide enough so your new low G string doesn't bind in it and cause tuning stability issues.
Click to expand...

Yup, everything jer said!
 
Thank you folks! We've decided no to change the saddle. We use this high G compensated saddle for low G. We name it Jimi Hendrix saddle. Thank you Dave!

 
IMHO & hands-on experience, string tension comparison of unwound fluoro low-G (~0.0358) vs. wound low-G (~0.030) will have MORE of an effect on intonation than saddle compensation.

If you leave the existing saddle, the WOUND low-G will intonate better than an UN-wound low-G.

Difference can be as much as +/- 10-12 cents intonation (usually '+' as in SHARP), but most folks lack the hearing perception for this and will only see it if they use an electronic tuner. :)
 
Booli said:
IMHO & hands-on experience, string tension comparison of unwound fluoro low-G (~0.0358) vs. wound low-G (~0.030) will have MORE of an effect on intonation than saddle compensation.

If you leave the existing saddle, the WOUND low-G will intonate better than an UN-wound low-G.

Difference can be as much as +/- 10-12 cents intonation (usually '+' as in SHARP), but most folks lack the hearing perception for this and will only see it if they use an electronic tuner. :)
Click to expand...

That's been my experience too. I don't even bother with the unwound strings anymore.
 
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