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Post by Marshall on Apr 3, 2023 8:03:02 GMT -5
I've been playing the 1957 J50 this week getting ready for the Easter morning song in DADGAD. I also changed the pickup from a failed Journey-Tek pickup and re-installed my Mag/Mic/SBT pickup from Skysonic. In the course of doing that I remove the strings. . . , and the saddle falls out. A few years ago I had a UST in there during my ToneDexter phase. So the bone saddle got trimmed to fit the slot with the UST. The UST is still in there, but cut off. But the slot is barely deep enough to accommodate the UST and the saddle. I really have to be careful when putting it all back together.
So I decided to order a new saddle. I ordered a Tusq because it comes pre-setup for a 16" radius fingerboard. The saddle in there is bone. But I don't want to try shaping the thing for a 16" radius with bevels. I'm OK with sanding the bottom of the saddle flat to get proper height.
So there.
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Post by drlj on Apr 3, 2023 8:15:44 GMT -5
You can buy pre-radiused & shaped bone saddles from Bob Colosi—just Google his name. He makes quality stuff you can even send him a saddle & he will copy it.
So there yourself.
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Post by John B on Apr 3, 2023 8:23:41 GMT -5
Plus Bob sells some pretty nifty saddle shims in ebony (or whatever wood your bridge is made of, but probably not Braz) that can be glued to the bottom of the saddle if your saddle is too low. They work like a charm and would be easier than fitting a new saddle (which won't be custom sized to a 60+ year old bridge). You could actually fit it with an Exacto.
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Post by epaul on Apr 3, 2023 8:34:44 GMT -5
Even better, cut a slice off an expired credit card. The plastic they use is 100% transparent (sonically... you can still see it, which is handy)
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Post by TKennedy on Apr 3, 2023 8:41:32 GMT -5
I have also glued ebony or rosewood shims to the bottom of the saddle in situations like yours. Works well. You can also wipe a thin layer of CA glue on the lower part of the saddle and block sand to widen it for a snugger fit in the slot.
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Post by Marshall on Apr 3, 2023 13:08:55 GMT -5
You can buy pre-radiused & shaped bone saddles from Bob Colosi—just Google his name. He makes quality stuff you can even send him a saddle & he will copy it. So there yourself. Cool. But his web site is confusing. (I'll figure it out later) (( never mind. I figured it out and sent him Paypal $ )) |
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Post by John B on Apr 3, 2023 13:14:00 GMT -5
You can buy pre-radiused & shaped bone saddles from Bob Colosi—just Google his name. He makes quality stuff you can even send him a saddle & he will copy it. So there yourself. Cool. But his web site is confusing. (I'll figure it out later) |
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Post by Marshall on Apr 3, 2023 13:18:03 GMT -5
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Post by John B on Apr 3, 2023 13:51:45 GMT -5
That's what I get for trying to be helpful  But at $15 or $25 the shim kit might be the ticket for you, especially since your existing saddle probably fits pretty well (except for the height). |
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Post by Marshall on Apr 3, 2023 19:05:47 GMT -5
 There you go. Is that better, John? Thanks for the help. I ordered a colossal Colosi. (I'm not interested in the shim. The UST was thick enough, and the slot shallow enough that the existing bone barely seats in the slot. The bone saddle was part of the original repair when I bought it in 2002. I filed it down to fit the Fishman Sonotone UST a few couple years ago. ) |
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Post by Marshall on Jun 14, 2023 19:10:21 GMT -5
We’ll, I got around to making the saddle switch. I waited this long because I also had ordered a new LR Baggs Hi-Fi pickup, and it was backordered for a month. So I swapped in the new Colosi saddle. Took a fair amount of sanding to get the right fit and the right height. But it works great now.
And in the process I removed the Skysonic, and installed the new Hi-Fi SBT. The installation was pretty simple. And the result is very good. I don’t play that guitar out these days. But I’ll take it to an open mic in the next couple weeks and see how it does live. Sounds very good at home. A little harsher and edgier than the Skysonic. But more acoustic.
I doubt I’ll be swapping out pickups on all my guitars. But this could be a very good role player. Any rate, the J50 is back in very good condition.
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Post by Marty on Jun 14, 2023 21:37:29 GMT -5
You can buy pre-radiused & shaped bone saddles from Bob Colosi—just Google his name. He makes quality stuff you can even send him a saddle & he will copy it. So there yourself. Or he could send the old saddle along with the dead pickup and I'll make one ever so slightly higher one for him to final fit. And it won't be fossil material aka stone. It would be bone or nice mammoth ivory. My ivory is not fossil, it's preserved from permafrost. SO THERE RIGHT BACK AT YOU!!! |
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Post by Marty on Jun 14, 2023 21:40:15 GMT -5
There you go. Is that better, John? Thanks for the help. I ordered a colossal Colosi. (I'm not interested in the shim. The UST was thick enough, and the slot shallow enough that the existing bone barely seats in the slot. The bone saddle was part of the original repair when I bought it in 2002. I filed it down to fit the Fishman Sonotone UST a few couple years ago. ) Sorry, did read the part, never mind. |
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Post by Marshall on Jun 15, 2023 8:00:08 GMT -5
You should look into the LR Baggs HiFi, Marty. It's their newest thing. It works very well, and it's an easy install, AND, it's not permanent like a K&K. Just sticky tape, not Super Glue. It's got an internal battery bag, and soundhole V&T controls.
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Post by Marty on Jun 15, 2023 9:12:09 GMT -5
You should look into the LR Baggs HiFi, Marty. It's their newest thing. It works very well, and it's an easy install, AND, it's not permanent like a K&K. Just sticky tape, not Super Glue. It's got an internal battery bag, and soundhole V&T controls. I'll be seeing one in a few days. Looks a great deal like the Trace Amulet system. Which in turn copied the old Frap system from the 70s. Few people used a Frap as they were very expensive. I do have a single Frap in my old pickup drawer. |
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Post by Marshall on Jun 15, 2023 9:18:32 GMT -5
When I installed it I couldn’t find the “included wire clips.” I used some out of my pickup drawer. The J50 already had a battery and battery bag in it, so I didn’t use the Baggs bag. Turns out they hide their wire clips inside the battery bag they give you with the pickup.
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Post by howard lee on Jun 15, 2023 18:28:42 GMT -5
Just because, here's the very first saddle I ever attempted to make myself, in my friend's workshop in Cutchogue, Long Island in August 2014. That was for the Huss and Dalton TD-M Custom sinker mahogany. Yes, I know it was a tad short on the treble end, but the intonation was near perfect. Cut me some slack here.
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Post by Marshall on Jun 15, 2023 18:42:09 GMT -5
That's a handsome saddle there Howard. As you are yourself.  The saddle I got from Colosi was a hair wider and longer than the slot, so it was just sandpaper work. The height I tired to match the height of the previous saddle with the UST. The top was radiused for the fretboard, so I was just flat sanding off the bottom. I got pretty close. But it seemed a little too high when I put it all back together. But I had made a rookie mistake and the endpin preamp didn't extend far enough out the back of the guitar for the 1/4" cable to make proper contact. So I had to take the strings off and rework the thing anyway, so I sanded another 1/16 " off the bottom of the saddle whilest I was still messing around. And now the pickup works quite fine, and the action and sound of the guitar is better than it has been in many years. |
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Post by howard lee on Jun 15, 2023 18:58:33 GMT -5
[...] The saddle I got from Colosi was a hair wider and longer than the slot, so it was just sandpaper work. The height I tired to match the height of the previous saddle with the UST. The top was radiused for the fretboard, so I was just flat sanding off the bottom. I got pretty close. But it seemed a little too high when I put it all back together. But I had made a rookie mistake and the endpin preamp didn't extend far enough out the back of the guitar for the 1/4" cable to make proper contact. So I had to take the strings off and rework the thing anyway, so I sanded another 1/16 " off the bottom of the saddle whilest I was still messing around. And now the pickup works quite fine, and the action and sound of the guitar is better than it has been in many years.
All's well that ends well, wrote Mr. Shakespeare.
(It was unbleached cow bone, that saddle was.)
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Post by Marty on Jun 15, 2023 19:16:13 GMT -5
Mr. fucking know it all again pontificating.
You cannot sell unbleached bone, think about how much organic matter is still there. What they do is boil, bleach it and then soak it in mineral oil to make it look like unbleached bone, sort of. Did you notice that the unbleached bone had a oily feel to it. I wipe it down with acetone before shaping a nut or saddle and again before polishing it. Don't want the oil on my sander or buffer.
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