The saddle wasn't seated

[broy]

Just a story - I took my guitar in to repair a bridge that was lifting off. While they had it, I asked them to make a new saddle for me (because the one I had, had to be shimmed to get the right height).

I picked the guitar up, and the repair looked good, but it just sounded dull, no volume, no liveliness. Finally a couple weeks in of saying I just don't love this guitar right now - I thought maybe he put a different set of strings on than I requested (although they looked right) - so decided to put my go to strings on hoping that would make the difference

I started to change the strings (took all the strings off) and tried to take the saddle out to check out the job the guy did... it was jammed in there solid, I doubt very much the bottom of the saddle was making good contact w/ the guitar. Ended up being the saddle was too long for the slot - I sanded it down, and it fits in nicely.

Best of all - I have my guitar back, sounds as sweet, maybe sweeter than I remember. It's amazing what good contact between the saddle and top means to function of the guitar.

... and a bonus point, I've got a new entry for my list of luthiers I'll never go to again, doh.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by broy

... and a bonus point, I've got a new entry for my list of luthiers I'll never go to again, doh.

Amen to that!

Glad it worked out for ya!

[guitaniac]

A saddle which is binding in the slot and not properly seated is one of the most common causes of a poorly balanced UST system.

The late luthier and pickup guru Rick Turner used to advise that the saddle needs to be loose enough to pull out with your fingers while simultaneously being snug enough to remain in the saddle slot (strings off) when the guitar is held upside down (saddle facing the floor). Meeting both of those criteria doesn’t leave much room for error.