fyb Posted February 3, 2008 Report Share Posted February 3, 2008 I have a Fender-style hardtail bridge that I'm going to use on my current project. It's got a string spacing of 2 3/16" and I need that width to match my wide neck. I was thinking of using some FerraGlide saddles in the bridge because they should perform better than the bent steel saddles (and I like the look better ). You can get the saddles that perfectly match my bridge spacing, with each saddle 0.440 in wide, from Graphtech directly but they're close to $80. Alternatively, you can get them from StewMac for $50 but they'll be slighty undersized at 0.410 in each. If I use the StewMac ones, I'll have tiny gaps. My question then is do you think these gaps are going to be a problem or am I being too picky? Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth guitars Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 With a gap between the saddles you run the risk of them vibrating which will cause all kinds of odd harmonics in your output. Without a rigid connection the string will not vibrate correctly, not to mention it will sound bad. You could put some spacers in between each saddle but then how will it look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TemjinStrife Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 (edited) With a gap between the saddles you run the risk of them vibrating which will cause all kinds of odd harmonics in your output. Without a rigid connection the string will not vibrate correctly, not to mention it will sound bad. You could put some spacers in between each saddle but then how will it look? Are you sure? I've got some guitars that do have a gap between the saddles, and I have no problems with odd harmonics due to the incredible downward pressure exerted by a string-through-body (or through-trem-block) setup. That said, if it's on a trem, there is always the possibility that if you do a really heavy dive bomb and then release, the saddles may decide to "spin" sideways with all the extra side clearance. I personally don't think there'd be an issue unless its on a trem, in which case I'd get the direct replacements just to be safe. Since it's a hardtail, you should be ok... but I'd rather spend the extra money and get the direct replacements anyways. Edited February 5, 2008 by TemjinStrife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 I kind on agree with Temjin. Are you sure it would cause odd harmonics. Tune-O-Matics have anywhere from a small gap to a pretty large gap between the saddles. Now they seat differently in the bridge and have more contact points than a traditional hardtail. Floyd Rose trems, have a small gap between saddles, but are screwed onto the bridge. I think the saddles on all of the Fender bridges are touching to maintain the string spacing. TOM's and Floyds have the saddles fixed horizontally by their design. But the Fender bridges allow the saddles to shift side to side. If there is any gap in between the saddles you may have problems maintaining the string spacing as you bend strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth guitars Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 If the saddles on a plate style bridge have slots for the height screws then side to side movement is minimal. Without these slots the saddle widths help to keep them in place. If the saddles are set high then yes the angle with the downward string pressure will help to hold it in place. On a tuneomatic bridge each saddles has its own slot and is held in place by the intonation screw and side to side movement is almost non-existant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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