Shimming the saddle

I will be saving my gift card after reading this thread for this purpose. It actually is with 54 mm just about the saddle length and if the saddle action is too low, adding about 0.8 mm might be just right. Might be too much, but anyways no buzzes then.

Saves a lots of time instead sand a new saddle to right width and then carefully down to a proper height.
 
I have used paper business cards, credit cards and have glued strips of bone veneer then sanded it to shape. The thick paper business cards did not sound as good, but I really could tell the difference between plastic credit and bone shims. Maybe my hearing is going downhill...
 
Barnes and Mullins use a wood shim same wood as the bridge, my Ovation guitar came with 3 different thickness mica shims.
Paper I would think will compress a bit, card? mmm not so sure. I did know a luthier that would shim the neck on acoustic guitars with glass or sandpaper if he needed to alter the angle on screw on necks..
 
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Swamp Yankee said:
..though perhaps not as elegant as my solution: making shims from my stock of vintage bits of piano key ivory ;)
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What a great idea! I'll have to remember that if the need should ever arise, as I possess a similar stock.

bratsche
 
Camsuke said:
That's a great question John, I’d also be very interested in what other members have experienced with the under saddle pickup :D
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I put one on my Martin HD28. Didn't notice any difference. I have also used hardwood shims on several acoustics with no noticable difference, except maybe loudness. There's an optimal string height for getting maximum transference of string vibration. It's sometimes a trade-off between string height and loudness. Since it's usually only slight, I tend to favor playability.

It's also important that you have full contact over the bottom of the saddle with the shim or pickup, i.e. no gaps, ridges.
 
mmn said:
There's an optimal string height for getting maximum transference of string vibration. It's sometimes a trade-off between string height and loudness. Since it's usually only slight, I tend to favor playability.
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The chap that used to do all my guitar setups refered to the angle of the string over the saddle, he would adjust the strings for playability, then if necessary shave the bridge down so as to re set the sharp angle, which on all of the guitars he did for me I could hear a vast difference in volume. On a Barnes and Mullins soprano I have I changed the saddle for same material, slightly lower, about 1mm, and it died, so I changed it back.
 
Yes, break angle is important. Not enough and the string can move around or vibrate in unwanted ways or even be damped. Correct angle = maximum vibration transfer from string to bridge - a wonderful thing...!
 
mmn said:
Yes, break angle is important. Not enough and the string can move around or vibrate in unwanted ways or even be damped. Correct angle = maximum vibration transfer from string to bridge - a wonderful thing...!
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Michael is there a generic optimum angle, or does each instrument differ? Or is it trial and error? Break Angle, I thought he'd used a term for it and thats the one :)
 
Dansimpson said:
Michael is there a generic optimum angle, or does each instrument differ? Or is it trial and error? Break Angle, I thought he'd used a term for it and thats the one :)
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Don't think there's an optimum angle that's universal. It's just important that you minimize the string contact with the saddle. So the sharper the angle the more likely you'll turn the thing into a sort of knife edge as you have to shave more off the back of the saddle. Depends on the saddle material, type of strings, distance from the saddle to the string anchor point, etc. Same thing on the nut. You want the string to break over the front of the nut, but not ride the nut all the way down on the backside.
 
mmn said:
It's just important that you minimize the string contact with the saddle. So the sharper the angle the more likely you'll turn the thing into a sort of knife edge as you have to shave more off the back of the saddle. Depends on the saddle material, type of strings, distance from the saddle to the string anchor point, etc. Same thing on the nut. You want the string to break over the front of the nut, but not ride the nut all the way down on the backside.
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Why would you want to minimize contact? You want the slots and angles to allow smooth movement and not hang up or buzz. But there is no advantage, and likely a disadvantage, to minimizing contact. You want the maximum vibration transfer between the strings and the body. I don't think minimizing contact is going to further this goal.
 
Uke Don said:
Why would you want to minimize contact? You want the slots and angles to allow smooth movement and not hang up or buzz. But there is no advantage, and likely a disadvantage, to minimizing contact. You want the maximum vibration transfer between the strings and the body. I don't think minimizing contact is going to further this goal.
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To minimize damping, buzzing potential.
 
I'm no expert but it seems to me that the less contact a string has with the saddle, the more likely the string is to buzz on that saddle.
 
More than 10 years ago I bought a ukulele that was intonation challenged because the bridge had been placed incorrectly. So I made a saddle that extended beyond the normal saddle slot. It has worked quite well over these years without any apparent decrease in sound or tone.

There is no way that strings under tension are going to buzz because of the width of the saddle. Strings will buzz if the saddle does not have a distinct edge, that is higher than the rest of the saddle, but doesn't have to be a point per se. At any rate I have played this ukulele more than any other. The fretboard can attest to that... lol.

John
 

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70sSanO said:
More than 10 years ago I bought a ukulele that was intonation challenged because the bridge had been placed incorrectly. So I made a saddle that extended beyond the normal saddle slot. It has worked quite well over these years without any apparent decrease in sound or tone.

There is no way that strings under tension are going to buzz because of the width of the saddle. Strings will buzz if the saddle does not have a distinct edge, that is higher than the rest of the saddle, but doesn't have to be a point per se. At any rate I have played this ukulele more than any other. The fretboard can attest to that... lol.

John
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Ingenious solution!
 
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