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I have a question, I noticed that my Alhambra 7fc's saddle doesn't completely sit on the bridge. What i mean by this is that when you look at the saddle, i see a very tiny space between the saddle and the bridge, Is that normal? I also see some sort of a very small forward tilt of the saddle toward the sound hole due to the fact that it doesn't sit completely on the bridge. Is that also normal? I read somewhere that luthiers make this intentionally to provide some down force and allow for more flamenco sound of some sort. A reply would be much appreciated.
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to Ziyad H.)
Unfortunately it looks like someone slightly butchered the bottom of the saddle slot. Hard to tell if it extends down the whole slot or it's just at the end. The slot should be square with the saddle sitting squarely on the bottom. The forward tilt seen on some guitars is likely just the result of time and string pull slightly twisting the bridge.
It's not the end of the world but the guitar might work a little more efficiently if you got that fixed. Two things a luthier could possibly do - 1. re-rout the saddle slot to make it square since there is still enough wood to work with, or 2. make a new saddle with the bottom shaped to mate with the bottom of the slot.
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Well that's unfortunate.. I bought this guitar a month ago and just today i realized this.. And also its so hard to find a good luthier to fix it for me..like where I live
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to Ziyad H.)
Honestly, if you like the guitar I wouldn't worry about it too much. People forget that the saddle is still making contact with the bridge through the walls of the slot. We have a tendency to obsess or worry about these imperfections but again, if you like the the sound and playability of the guitar, don't let this ruin that enjoyment.
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to Andy Culpepper)
Well im clearly obsessed about that thing but your words comforted me. I love this guitar so much. Its my first flamenco guitar ever. Thank you for your help, much appreciated.
One more quick question, does this slight imperfection affect the action? Does it make it higher?
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to Ziyad H.)
quote:
One more quick question, does this slight imperfection affect the action? Does it make it higher?
I guess I don't quite understand the question but the action height was presumably set with the saddle the way it is, so it's not affecting the action. I think you mentioned in your other post that the action was about 2.5 mm which is nice and low.
StewMac has thought of everything, haven't they :D
It's actually interesting to think about why it's important to have good contact between the saddle and the bottom of the slot. If you're supposed to lose tone and volume from not having good contact, that means that some of the energy from the vibration of the strings is being dissipated without going into the top or is not moving the top effectively. But where is that energy going exactly. Of course I build my guitars with the saddle flush to the bottom of the slot but it would be interesting to do an A/B comparison with this.
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to Ziyad H.)
Thank you for your advices, people. Now i have an idea or two about how to deal with this issue. Im just too afraid to ruin this beautiful guitar. It's really hard to take any decision haha
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to El Burdo)
El Burdo,
This has already been done before with many ways of contact to the bridge, even a friend of mine used circuit board material for translating sound; even saddles with split groves of contact.
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to Tom Blackshear)
Maybe there is a point of diminishing return so to speak. Like the saddle transfers vibration like electricity and only needs so much continuity to transfer adequately. I don’t know
I put an undersized saddle I had lying around on my new guitar while I was doing a setup. Basically a 1/8th saddle in a 3/32 slot. I just needed something in the slot temporarily. A few days went by and I forgot about the saddle and tuned up the guitar. I could not tell a difference! The saddle had no business being in there under tension!
As far as saddle thickness, I think Trevor Gore talks about minimizing the area of contact between the string and the saddle. Seems contrary to logic.
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to JasonM)
I know this has been done to death but this is why I developed fine tuning, to adjust these slight differences in tonal value which might be effected by parts of the guitar.
Normally the treble end comes out clean and clear with the tuning adjustments.
This is what I finally arrived at when I'd tried most other sound techniques under the sun:-)
RE: Saddle doesn't sit completely on... (in reply to El Burdo)
quote:
Hi Tom - Was there a conclusion?
Yes, I found that the phenolic material in the circuit board gave a better transfer of sound but that its appearance was not that great, so years later I developed fine tuning.
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