Need a New Saddle...Suggestions?

sixx

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The saddle in my '67 F30 is made of plastic or something similar by the looks of it. It's deformed a bit, plus it's super tall so I'd like to stick a bone saddle in there. I'd love to be able to get one that's "pretty close", but the one place I know to go to, Bob Colosi, doesn't list Guilds on his site.

Suggestions of what others have done in this situation? I know I can take it to my local luthier, but I wanted to tackle it myself. Tks
 

GardMan

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I have used Bob's "drop in" compensated saddles (3/32" thick) for Martin guitars in a number of my post-1971 Guild dreads... they just take a little cutting and sanding to make them fit. However, I would expect a '67 to have a thru saddle... I wouldn't expect that the shape of Colosi's thru saddles for Martin would match the bridge profile of a Guild. They might require a little more sanding to get the shape of the shoulders correct. OTOH, if you posted where you reside, someone might be able to recommend a tech local to you that could make and fit a bone thru saddle for you... It's been a while since I had a saddle made, but I wouldn't expect it to be particularly costly.
 

gjmalcyon

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The saddle in my '67 F30 is made of plastic or something similar by the looks of it. It's deformed a bit, plus it's super tall so I'd like to stick a bone saddle in there. I'd love to be able to get one that's "pretty close", but the one place I know to go to, Bob Colosi, doesn't list Guilds on his site.

Suggestions of what others have done in this situation? I know I can take it to my local luthier, but I wanted to tackle it myself. Tks

My D6 has a compensated bone Colosi saddle and bridge pins. Nice upgrade from the original uncompensated saddle. I mailed him my original saddle and bridge pins, and got them back along with new items from Bob.
 

GardMan

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That would be another approach... if you can stand to be w/o the guitar for a week, send your old saddle to Bob C. He can make a new one from bone with the correct shoulder profile... tho' it might still need to be sanded a bit for the perfect fit to your Guild. IME, Bobs' turnaround time is pretty quick... I recall sending him some pins to match, and it was a week door to door. Of course, that was THEN and this is the new NOW...
 

Cougar

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Suggestions of what others have done in this situation? I know I can take it to my local luthier, but I wanted to tackle it myself. Tks

Of course you're welcome to tackle it yourself, but since you asked, I just have a local luthier/tech cut a new saddle. It's not very expensive.
 

wileypickett

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I replace all my plastic saddles with bone, and compensated bone where possible. Considering how many guitars I have (and have had) that's a lot of darn saddles!

To fit an existing saddle slot, EVERY saddle I've ever put in required some modification, either in thickness, length, height or angle, and more often than not, most or all of the above.

Having an exact copy of your saddle made only works if your saddle is absolutely perfect to begin with. Most aren't. The height is usually off, too low or too high, some are a little too thin for the saddle slot, some are not high enough on the bass side, etc.

Some years ago I got tired of taking my guitars to my luthier for this work (the expense *might* have been a factor too!) so I learned how to make saddles myself.

It's not hard, but you need to be comfortable using sandpaper. And the right tools will, of course, make the job easier. I rely in particular on my Dremel -- the cutoff wheel makes the initial shaping much easier -- and this little doohickey is worth its weight in gold:


Expensive, yes, but it's paid for itself many times over.

Obviously all this is only worth doing if you're like me (heaven help you!) and have acquired, or plan to acquire, a lot of guitars.

Or if you just like the satisfaction of doing your own work. (It is fun!)
 

sixx

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I replace all my plastic saddles with bone, and compensated bone where possible. Considering how many guitars I have (and have had) that's a lot of darn saddles!

To fit an existing saddle slot, EVERY saddle I've ever put in required some modification, either in thickness, length, height or angle, and more often than not, most or all of the above.

Having an exact copy of your saddle made only works if your saddle is absolutely perfect to begin with. Most aren't. The height is usually off, too low or too high, some are a little too thin for the saddle slot, some are not high enough on the bass side, etc.

Some years ago I got tired of taking my guitars to my luthier for this work (the expense *might* have been a factor too!) so I learned how to make saddles myself.

It's not hard, but you need to be comfortable using sandpaper. And the right tools will, of course, make the job easier. I rely in particular on my Dremel -- the cutoff wheel makes the initial shaping much easier -- and this little doohickey is worth its weight in gold:


Expensive, yes, but it's paid for itself many times over.

Obviously all this is only worth doing if you're like me (heaven help you!) and have acquired, or plan to acquire, a lot of guitars.

Or if you just like the satisfaction of doing your own work. (It is fun!)

This is my thoughts exactly! Last count is I have 15 acoustics and an archtop. It's way past time I start doing my own work, plus I'd like to learn. I'm accumulating a list of luthier tools needed. That linked nut and saddle sander looks beyond cool. I'm a sucker for tools...and I can justify it pretty easily (having 15 acoustics you can tell it's not hard to talk me into something I want). That's probably about the expense of 4 nut/saddles made at my local luthier, plus I'll have the satisfaction of doing it myself.

I need to make a new nut for my D25, the one that's in there is jacked. String spacing is narrower than my F30, and the neck is 1/16" bigger. Urgh.
 

wileypickett

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That linked nut and saddle sander looks beyond cool. I'm a sucker for tools...and I can justify it pretty easily (having 15 acoustics you can tell it's not hard to talk me into something I want).

I predict you'll love it! Every time I use it I marvel at how easy to use it is, how effective, and how accurate.
 

Brucebubs

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I make my own bone saddles from blanks.
EBay has plenty to chose from, like this compensated 6-string model pictured at front and this larger uncompensated 7-string version at the rear.

oEskBI9l.jpg


That 7-string version was amazingly close to size for my F-412!
Here's a link to it; https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/One-Pie...stic-Guitar-Saddle-76-5mm-Length/401412427655
 

Taylor Martin Guild

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I have had great success by using my local tech for making my saddles.
He fits them just right and compensates them to the guitar.
I suggest looking that way.
 

Brucebubs

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I have had great success by using my local tech for making my saddles.
He fits them just right and compensates them to the guitar.
I suggest looking that way.

That's a good point.
I tried one of those 'pre-compensated' bone saddles pictured above in my Huss & Dalton - intonation wasn't quite right so I used a bone blank and carefully copied the more curved compensation of the original saddle and it worked perfectly.

act62rdl.jpg
 

Tom O

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That's a good point.
I tried one of those 'pre-compensated' bone saddles pictured above in my Huss & Dalton - intonation wasn't quite right so I used a bone blank and carefully copied the more curved compensation of the original saddle and it worked perfectly.

act62rdl.jpg
What happened to your original Hust & Dalton saddle that you replaced it? Your new saddle looks good.
 

Brucebubs

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What happened to your original Hust & Dalton saddle that you replaced it? Your new saddle looks good.

I keep it as the 'master' in the hard case.
I make bone replicas of all my guitars saddles, that way I feel fine experimenting with saddle height without fear of ruining the original.
On this one I dropped the 4D,5A and 6E top side of the saddle down a fraction lower than the original, feels excellent to me.
 

Velvet Phelts

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I predict you'll love it! Every time I use it I marvel at how easy to use it is, how effective, and how accurate.


I do like the look of the saddle sander. I cut my saddles from the top, string by string with a very wide slot then intonate then cut the rest of the top of the saddle down to level with the radius of the slots. Takes a bit longer, bottom of the saddle stays flat, intonation is dead on. If I were making my living at guitar tech. I could maybe justify the cost of the saddle sander, it's kind of expensive. But it would be nice to be able to shave the bottom and know its still square.
 
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