Saddle width

[brian f]

What goes into deciding the width of the saddle? Seems like the standard widths are 1/8" and 3/32".

I used to have an epiphone that had some very poor work done on it. I ultimately had to slightly widen the saddle slot (making it slightly more than 1/8" wide) to fix it. This seemed to improve tone a bit on this poor sounding guitar, and increase volume substantially.

My d25 has a 3/32" saddle, and It has plenty of volume, but the thinner saddle leaves less room for compensation when I make a new one.

My GAD JF30 has a 1/8" saddle.

I guess my big question is, do all the D25's out there have a 3/32" saddle? And, has anyone widened the slot on their D25 to 1/8"

B

 

[GardMan]

All my Westerley dreads have 3/32" saddles. I noticed that the two Tacomas I have seen in person appear to have wider saddles (1/8"?)...

 

[bluegrass jubilee]

Tacoma made Guilds are 1/8"

 

[Metalman]

What goes into deciding the width of the saddle? Seems like the standard widths are 1/8" and 3/32".

I used to have an epiphone that had some very poor work done on it. I ultimately had to slightly widen the saddle slot (making it slightly more than 1/8" wide) to fix it. This seemed to improve tone a bit on this poor sounding guitar, and increase volume substantially.

My d25 has a 3/32" saddle, and It has plenty of volume, but the thinner saddle leaves less room for compensation when I make a new one.

My GAD JF30 has a 1/8" saddle.

I guess my big question is, do all the D25's out there have a 3/32" saddle? And, has anyone widened the slot on their D25 to 1/8"

B

Brian,
Most of the Westerly Guilds in fact almost all of the Guilds have the factory size set 3/32" saddle. I've done my own work on all my Guilds, past present and most likely future. Have changed, worked on, the saddles - filed them down, shortened them, etc. I have a lot of left over plastic and bone 3/32" saddles.


I would not attempt to widen the slot unless I really knew what I was doing; some pretty good woodworking skills. One slip, and you could have a mess on the top of your guitar!

The only time I had such work done was on my '82 D-50; the bottom of the slot was kinda weird, not even, so I had a luthier mill the bottom, so we could fit an under-the-saddle transducer down in there.
That being said, you say you improved tone and volume substantially by doing so. That is interesting. Bigger saddle, more volume, sustain.

 

[brian f]

Interesting.

I fixed the slot on that Epi and widened it, only slightly, because I really didn't care if I messed it up.
A "luthier" here locally widened it, without asking me, in order to fit in a new bone saddle, rather than sanding the saddle to the correct width to fit the slot. (I was just starting to play and didn't know what I was talking about or looking at. If a knowledgable person had seen this thing when I got it back from him, they would have laughed at him). The newly widened slot was cut unevenly, the saddle bottom was uneven, and the saddle leaned forward in the slot, a lot. I used an exacto knife to even the walls of the slot. It improved but I still didn't like it so I sold it. I have no plans on widening the slot on the D25, more curious than anything else as to what goes into the decision when making a guitar. Why would a tacoma d50 have a 1/8 slot and a Westerly d50 have a 3/32?

I've read a lot about scalloping braces on a standard brace guitar, removing "popsicle braces", etc.
Curious if anyone had ever widened the saddle slot on a good guitar, why they did it, and what kind of effect it had.

B

 

[Firebird]

My Westerly D55 is currently in the shop getting completely rebuilt. One of the things the luthier is doing is changing out the cheap plastic 3/32 plastic saddle for a nice 1/8 bone saddle. The additional width will allow him some room to create a compensated saddle to improve intonation of the guitar. A new slot will have to be routed in the bridge but thats ok for that will assure me that the bottom of the slot is flat. This luthier felt 1/8 was the only way to go.

When I get the guitar back, I'll tell you all about it.

 

[brian f]

yes, firebird, please let us know how the D55 turns out, and what effect the wider saddle has on sound.

 

[Metalman]

yes, firebird, please let us know how the D55 turns out, and what effect the wider saddle has on sound.

Me, too; will a wider saddle (1/8" as opposed to 3/32") make much of a difference?

My inclination would be to say "yes"; more mass, better sound. But I've never tried it.

I have one guitar that the saddle is a bit small for the slot, and it leans forward, towards the neck. If I take the strings off, tilt the guitar upside down, the saddle will fall out.
After all this talk, I'm going to take another look at it, see if I can't fit a bigger saddle in there

 

[brian f]

Metalman, if your saddle is leaning forward in the slot, that means that the bottom of the saddle is probably not making solid contact with the bottom of the saddle slot. I've seen this issue on a few guitars, and simply putting in a new saddle that fit correctly, and was flat on the bottom, made a world of difference in tone and volume.

 

[Firebird]

I have one guitar that the saddle is a bit small for the slot, and it leans forward, towards the neck. If I take the strings off, tilt the guitar upside down, the saddle will fall out.

This was exactly one of the problems I was having with my D55. The loose fitting saddle wore the slot larger too. A tight fitting saddle just has to improve tone and volume. My luthier showed me using a strobe tuner just how far this put the intonation off going up the neck. The neck by the way, was perfectly straight.

 

[bluegrass jubilee]

yes, firebird, please let us know how the D55 turns out, and what effect the wider saddle has on sound.

Most piezo systems have 1/8" wide under saddle pickups. It's easier for a dealer to do the install on these than it is for them to route the slot out.

Plus, more bone can't be a bad thing!

 

[Mr_LV-19E]

Tacoma made Guilds are 1/8"

My D-40 is 3/32".

 

[Graham]

Love the Avatar! :mrgreen: