Martin cut thru saddles - - -

[TennesseeWalker]

I was in the Guitar Shoppe in Laguna Beach yesterday talking to my friend Kirk Sand and he was mentioning maybe doing a little tweaking on the setup of my J-41 Special.

In the course of his comments, he mentioned that it has been his experience that more often than not, Martin cut thru saddles with 'square' ends are usually glued in and he has to heat the parts using lights and templates to remove the saddle and the saddles with 'round' ends are usually pressed in with no glue.

Anyone here have any knowledge with such matters and can offer up some direct experience they can share regarding such?


square ends


round ends

[brencat]

Your friend is correct. The glued in ones are squared off, while the drop in are rounded. But the slot depth is also different, with the drop in being cut a little deeper to support the tension without cracking the bridge. The glued in one is shallower and more vintage appropriate.

[TennesseeWalker]

Originally Posted by brencat

Your friend is correct. The glued in ones are squared off, while the drop in are rounded. But the slot depth is also different, with the drop in being cut a little deeper to support the tension without cracking the bridge. The glued in one is shallower and more vintage appropriate.

Thank you -

Kirk mentioned the appearance of a little additional thickness to the bridge, perhaps to support the same.
We didn't measure but I'll ask him to do so when I take it in.

Some info on Kirk Sand from an interview with Premier Guitar:
https://www.premierguitar.com/gear/b...k-sand-guitars

[JayBee1404]

Be aware that Martin long saddles on modern instruments are not true ‘cut through’ saddles, they are all ‘long drop-in’ saddles, either glued or un-glued.

A true cut-through saddle sits in a shallow slot cut straight across the bridge, whereas modern Martin long saddles actually sit in a deep pocket in the bridge. A true cut-through saddle can be slid into place along its slot, whilst a modern long drop-in cannot - it has to be…errrmm…dropped into the bridge-pocket.

I’ve had both glued-in and non-glued-in long drop-in saddles, and as Brencat says, the ends tell you which kind you have in your J-41 Special - square ends indicate glued-in, rounded ends indicate non-glued.