Angled saddle = softer top A string?

[goldiver]

Hi folks,
The question heading this thread says it all - when compensating a saddle for healthier action and improved intonation, is the dynamic balance of the strings affected, in your experience? Or is this a matter of playing technique?

 

[kissing]

The saddle shape will affect tone, broadly in 2 ways.

1. Is the top surface of the saddle sharp or rounded/flat?
Common sense-wise, sharp top will mean crisper, focused attack while rounded/flattened top will probably be a bit mellower and muffled.

2. The saddle height specifically where the string rests on will affect the individual string's action.
Tonal differences that apply to high or low action will apply here, as well as feel & effect on playability.

 

[spongeuke]

Compensation of the saddle lengthens the Higher string more than the next lower one to compensate the tendency of the higher string to go sharp as you go up (tone) the neck. Intonation is also a product of the hight of the string above the frets. lower string hight results in the string being less stretched affecting intonation. The short scale of the ukulele makes compensation (Sadle and string hight) more difficult than the longer scale of a guitar. Very few Sopranos have prefect intonation.
Playing technique can make almost any instrument sound great or not so much.

 

[casualmusic]

Hi folks,
The question heading this thread says it all - when compensating a saddle for healthier action and improved intonation, is the dynamic balance of the strings affected, in your experience? Or is this a matter of playing technique?

You won’t feel or hear the 0.4% change from the millimetre or so used to compensate the saddle

 

[goldiver]

You won’t feel or hear the 0.4% change from the millimetre or so used to compensate the saddle

Thanks for the advice - you're probably right! I'm talking about an aNueNue AMM2 Concert with a very subtle adjustment of the action, where the top string is slightly lower than the bottom. From the factory it's 3mm above 12th fret across the board.

The AMM2 is quite a midrange orientated uke anyway.

I know some 'serious' players make their own saddles to improve dynamic balance for all four strings, so perhaps experimenting by slotting in a dead-straight saddle won't hurt...

​