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Hello Guitar Buddies!!

I have noticed that some people make compensated saddles with different configuration. Somehow there seems to be a little bit of inconsistency. Especially when Martin guitars are concerned.

Does anyone have a good diagram as to how a properly
compensated saddle should look like???

Thanks, Walter

Compensation is affected by a number of factors including action, elasticity of the string which varies among different types of materials, cross sectional area of the string, scale length, and maybe some other factors I can't figure out. Changing in one of these factors is going to more or less affect the intonation and thus compensation on the saddle.

To your query, therefore, there is no univeral degree of compensation for every saddle since the above factors might be varied among different guitars and types and gauges of strings used. However, you can see that the rough profile on most saddles should look like a slant line in which the B string position has more setback from the line.

The general way you can set the right compensation on your saddle is to check the 12th fretted pitch on each string with its harmonic pitch. If the fretted pitch falls flat, then file the saddle to move its peak forward towards the nut until the fretted pitch yields the same note as the harmonic and just do the opposite if the fretted note appears sharp.

Hope this helps.     

Walter,
Dan Erlewine, Buzz Feiten and others recommend that you DON'T use the harmonic to check intonation but rather use the open played note to the fretted 12th note. I do as Dan and Buzz suggest and have had much success.

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

I find my best results come from first 12th freted and 12th harmonic, then once that is satisfactory I use 5th freted and 17th freted (3rd G use 4th and 16th)to fine tune the intonation.

PS
In answer to your last question Walter, it is so dependent on so may things that if accuratly messured in .000", no two saddels would be intonated to the same dimensions. If you pre slot you bridge before gluing on, how accurate you got your location at glue-on will have a major affect on the intonated break point of the saddle for each string. Like I said in the earlyer post I do not approch the saddel with a preconcived brake point location. I allow the meter to inform me as to which direction I need to compensate during intonation set-up.MichaelP38616.6214236111

While we are on this subject.

What kind of tuners do you guys use for check the intonation? Do you all have strobe tuners? Will my $35 tuner be acurate enough? Personally I think it won't be since it tends to wander around even when I'm just tuning the guitar.

Thanks

Graham

If it is analog swing arm type it will surfice in a pinch but a led digital is of no use. most of them have a accurace tolerance of + or - 4ct. That is not good enough to intonate with. I had rather see something like .01ct but you can only get that with a strob tuner. I feel my Peterson may be the best buy of a tool I have made in years

Walter,

    I've used the ame Peterson Strobe tuner for many years and have it calibrated about about every three years. Itis very accurate and has never let me down. I've one intonation complaint in almost five hundred acoustic guitars and several thousand electrics. It ended up that the owner had decided to mofity his own nut a few months after receiving the guitar and failed to keep the exit points for the strings at the front edge of the nut. He asked that I correct by making him a new saddle whil emailing me tuner variables, but refuse to ship the guitar for me to do the work. He finally had pro do the set up and that tech emailed to let me know that the nut had been altered from is original state and was the cause for the crazy tuning problems that he was experiencing.

   I rough the intonation in using 12th fret notes and their relationship to the 12 fret harmonic. That basically aligns the note and harmonic blankets and allows for the fine intonation to begin. I dial it in using 5th fret and 7th fret positions and finish up with a check of all harmonics in relation to the notes under them. It's worked nicely so far.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Which peterson strobe tuner do you guys use
Andy

_________________
Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

VSII

When you guys build, do you set your saddles a certain pre set distance and
then fine tune the carving of the saddle based on tuning with the strobe?

How do you use your strobe tuner when intonating your saddles?
I am getting mixed messages
Andy

_________________
Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Michael,

Where is the best place to buy those tuners? I just did a google search. Does $219 sound right?

Thanks

Shane

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Canada

The saddle channel makes up most of the comensation of the string length of course Then the fine intonation is set a set-up but shaping the saddle's break point for each string. There are many ways to use the tuner to intonate. They all are based on comparitive pitch. Out of all the resopnces I have read no mix-info just differnt tech. to achive the same thing.

yep Shane that is about the going price. somewhere between $210 and $220 I got mine through StewMac and paid a bit more but I had a pretty big order anyway. Search the net and I believe I have seen it somewhere at $209 but I don't remember where.