Curious saddle

[thefsb]

In this photo, what's up with the curious appearance of the saddle?

Would love to a pic that shows that kind of saddle closer up.

[L20A]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but my guess is that these old Gibson guitars had adjustable saddles that were made from wood.

Some owners choose to replace the wooden saddles with Bone or other kinds of material.

These wooden saddles were very wide.

[pagedr]

Originally Posted by L20A

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but my guess is that these old Gibson guitars had adjustable saddles that were made from wood.

Some owners choose to replace the wooden saddles with Bone or other kinds of material.

These wooden saddles were very wide.

Some saddles were rosewood, some were ceramic. That looks like a ceramic one. Some of the bridges themselves were made of plastic as well, while others were made of wood.

Here's an up close look at one for the OP:

[Wade Hampton]

Right. Gibson’s adjustable saddles were either rosewood, which is dark, or ceramic. The ceramic ones were kind of an off white color, as is the one on the album cover.

It’s shaped the way it is because it’s a 12 string saddle.

The ceramic adjustable saddles have their defenders, but nobody defends the rosewood saddles - they’re just horrible-sounding. (Posting that, of course, will bring out defenders of the rosewood saddles. But they’re pretty awful….)


whm

[Cibby]

I had one of these adjustable saddles back in 1960's on a Gibson. I never liked it back then don't like them now. I was in my early teens when I bought it from money I had saved and I think i traded it about 2 months later.

[Osage]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

The ceramic adjustable saddles have their defenders, but nobody defends the rosewood saddles - they’re just horrible-sounding. (Posting that, of course, will bring out defenders of the rosewood saddles. But they’re pretty awful….)


whm

I've yet to meet a defender of the Rosewood saddle. They're just terrible sounding and honestly, the ceramic ones aren't much better. Not to mention that they mated the whole rig with a huge plywood bridge plate!

[Wade Hampton]

I was being diplomatic about the ceramic ones; I don’t care for those, either. But some people like them.


whm

[gmel555]

No doubt a large majority have no love for that bridge/saddle. I believe the bridge's adjustment mechanism adds ALOT of weight to the top that drives some to change not only the saddle but modify/change the bridge to remove un-needed "hardware", ie, extra weight. One point/question I have regarding the rosewood vs ceramic topic though...am I wrong that James Taylor recorded his first 3 albums with that rosewood saddle in place*? I fully understand the studio can do magic but I've heard him talk about that "lovely acoustic tone" on his J-50 in those days, seen in this pic. I'd say dates this to his early albums, including Sweet Baby James...not bad tone IMHO.
* not being provocative here, I'm really curious.

[Osage]

Not sure about that photo but his J-50 has a non adjustable Rosewood bridge and bone saddle.

[pagedr]

Originally Posted by gmel555

No doubt a large majority have no love for that bridge/saddle. I believe the bridge's adjustment mechanism adds ALOT of weight to the top that drives some to change not only the saddle but modify/change the bridge to remove un-needed "hardware", ie, extra weight. One point/question I have regarding the rosewood vs ceramic topic though...am I wrong that James Taylor recorded his first 3 albums with that rosewood saddle in place*? I fully understand the studio can do magic but I've heard him talk about that "lovely acoustic tone" on his J-50 in those days, seen in this pic. The Barcus Berry transducer seen in this photo (which he's described in videos) and his appearance I'd say dates this to his early albums, including Sweet Baby James...not bad tone IMHO.
* not being provocative here, I'm really curious.

I think he had the bridge replaced at some point, but he still had the rosewood saddle in this vid and it sounds pretty dang to me (looks like the gutiar is just mic'd).

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by pagedr

I think he had the bridge replaced at some point, but he still had the rosewood saddle in this vid and it sounds pretty dang to me (looks like the gutiar is just mic'd).

He did. The story Taylor tells is that eventually "someone" convinced him to upgrade the simple Barcus Berry transducer with an internal pup of some kind (not sure what). Taylor thought it ruined the acoustic sound and he stopped using it all together. Many years later Danny Ferrington pull out that pup and "restored" the J-50 to somewhat original.

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by Osage

Not sure about that photo but his J-50 has a non adjustable Rosewood bridge and bone saddle.

Ahh, you're right. Guess he had an earlier pre-adjustable saddle style? Thanks for clarifying. I'm looking at a possible purchase of a 50's era J-45 or J-50 and trying to gather my facts. Still learning. The history and naming of the Gibson lines in the 1940's thru 1960's gets a little confusing for me.

[Stonehauler]

Take a look at this one
https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Guitar/...ntique-Natural

Looks to have the same type of bridge (but this one is new)

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by Stonehauler

Take a look at this one
https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Guitar/...ntique-Natural
Looks to have the same type of bridge (but this one is new)

Yes, thanks. I've been looking at these re-issues as well.