Successfully Widened The 2 1/8 String Spacing

[Wellington]

I actually did this a few months ago but thought I'd mention it here as most Guilds have a 2 1/8 bridge side string spacing. I can deal with it but I do a lot of folky finger picking and prefer wider. I took it in and they notched me a saddle to 2 1/4 but did a poor job, the spacing was very inconsistent. I ordered another saddle and notched it myself and did a much better job, I do have the files I just thought a tech would be better. Now it's 2 5/16, evenly spaced. I love it, no effect on sound, they haven't ever popped out. It was really simple.

 

[HeyMikey]

Brilliant. Curious if others have done this as well.

 

[jedzep]

Good work! Very interesting! Might be troublesome with playing style down the road, but... Got me thinking.

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Does it not bother you that your pins don't match?

 

[Wellington]

Does it not bother you that your pins don't match?

They came like that on the guitar brand new, they're unbleached so they are random looking, I really like that actually.

 

[Boneman]

Hm, I'm sorta confused. You say you notched the saddle yourself, and I don't see any notches there to keep the string put. It certainly looks like you have a lot of compensation going, and carving that from a blank is some really good work, but if the bridge pin holes are not spread out, and the nut was not redone accordingly, seems there's nothing to keep the string from sliding some to realign with the exisitng nut, and get you back where you started. How do the strings stay spread out on that saddle, unless you also carved a new nut with wider spacing?

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Hm, I'm sorta confused. You say you notched the saddle yourself, and I don't see any notches there to keep the string put. It certainly looks like you have a lot of compensation going, and carving that from a blank is some really good work, but if the bridge pin holes are not spread out, and the nut was not redone accordingly, seems there's nothing to keep the string from sliding some to realign with the exisitng nut, and get you back where you started. How do the strings stay spread out on that saddle, unless you also carved a new nut with wider spacing?

The notches are under the strings! You can see the three "highest" strings are in notches.

 

[Wellington]

Correct, the notches aren't very deep, the strings are inside the notches in the pictures. I didn't recut any nut, that wouldn't change anything. There was plenty of room on the fretboard for the string spacing to widen at the bridge. It was a simple pre-compensated bone saddle from Amazon, works good. I just made the notches for my preferred spacing.

 

[chazmo]

That's cool, Wellington. IF you grooved a new nut, I think you'd feel a different with your left hand that you might not like. As it stands, I suspect you only really feel anything different with your picking hand.

Anyway, nice work. The only thing I don't like about this is that your strings may wear the saddle down over time since the are no longer pulling straight down on it. I.e., they may damage the groove you've created. If you're finger picking, probably not an issue ever. Good luck!

 

[jedzep]

That was my first thought. It will be an interesting experiment to see what it takes to pop a string out of the groove. Also, it seems there should be slight intonation variables that could arise.

 

[Wellington]

That's cool, Wellington. IF you grooved a new nut, I think you'd feel a different with your left hand that you might not like. As it stands, I suspect you only really feel anything different with your picking hand.

Anyway, nice work. The only thing I don't like about this is that your strings may wear the saddle down over time since the are no longer pulling straight down on it. I.e., they may damage the groove you've created. If you're finger picking, probably not an issue ever. Good luck!

Yes, I also thought that over time they may want to pull towards each other. I play quite soft so probably a good while, either way the saddle was less than $10 and took an hour to fit it and notch it, so I'm not too worried.

That was my first thought. It will be an interesting experiment to see what it takes to pop a string out of the groove. Also, it seems there should be slight intonation variables that could arise.

Another thing I had wondered, to my ears I haven't been able to detect the change, I'm usually fairly sensitive to intonation but not as much as others, but I think the difference if there is one is almost impossible to detect.

 

[davismanLV]

I think this is a really great way to address the string spacing issue, considering you can't change the spacing of the bridge pin holes without some SERIOUS aggravation!! Good job!! And it sounds good?

 

[Boneman]

The notches are under the strings! You can see the three "highest" strings are in notches.

Guess I need higher magnification glasses! Hard for me to see even when blowing up the image! Thanks GoG

 

[Wellington]

I think this is a really great way to address the string spacing issue, considering you can't change the spacing of the bridge pin holes without some SERIOUS aggravation!! Good job!! And it sounds good?

I wasnt able to detect any change in tone, that was my main concern so I'm relieved!

 

[davismanLV]

I wasnt able to detect any change in tone, that was my main concern so I'm relieved!

This is what we love!! Fixes for our problems!! Thanks for sharing this....

 

[Nuuska]

Here is a quick inaccurate calculation of the effect of string offset.

Inaccurate - because for being lazy I assume that before modification the strings would be perpendicular to bridge - and we know they are not.

3/16 inch is close enough 5mm = 1mm/space - therefore D & G move 0,5mm - A & B move 1,5mm - E & e move 2,5mm
- 650mm string length.

D & G - square root of ( 650x650 + 0,5x0,5 ) is 650,0001923

A & B - square root of ( 650x650 + 1,5x1,5 ) is 650,0017307

E & e - square root of ( 650x650 + 2,5x2,5 ) is 650,0048077