Hello all.
I'm making a new saddle for my Seagull. I'm using the old one as a guide...basically, I made a copy of it in bone. The radius matches exactly.
Anyways, I checked my fretboard using a radius gauge and it's 16''. I then checked both my bone saddle and my original tusq saddle. They are not 16'', more like 14 or even 12. It doesn't match my gauges exactly.
Now, isn't the radius of the saddle supposed to match the radius of the board? Should I re-do my saddle? It's still too tall for the bridge, so I could easily just re-radius it.
Boy, that is weird. You would think they should match, right? Perhaps there is some technical answer as to why they don't. But, the cynic in me thinks somebody at the factory installed the wrong saddle!
No, they shouldn't match. The bass strings need to be higher above the fretboard than the treble strings as they vibrate through a wider range and will buzz otherwise.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
There are two types of fretboard radii on guitars. One style, called cylindrical, has the same radius from the first fret to the saddle. Found on a lot of Fender electrics. On these, yes, the bridge will match up with fret radius.
The second type is conical, or compound. Tight radius on the first fret and it gets shallower as it approches the bridge, found on a lot of Gibsons and superstrat type guitars. The reasoning is when play further up the neck, it should be easier to hold notes, and it also prevents "fret out" when you bend notes.
I have both, and I really can't see a difference between the two. But that's just me.
I sometimes can tell at a glance which is which by comparing the width of the neck at the nut and comparing it at the end of the fret board, most compound boards have a noticable difference in the width of the neck from nut to end. Fender types don't have as great of a spread.
I don't really worry about the radius of the saddle too much, as long as the height of the bottom of the strings are about the same distance from the frets at the twelfth fret. Nor do I worry about the action either.
Set the string height with the radius of the saddle top then set the action by shaving or sanding the bottom of the saddle to preserve the curve of the top.
The bass side of the saddle should be a little higher because the lower strings need more room to vibrate.
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming......
like the passengers in his car.
There are actually three - conical and compound are different.
The terms get confused because one of the early manufacturers of conical, Warmouth, markets their conical radius as 'compound', and some others followed. Other manufactuers market the same profiles using the more accurate terms 'conical', 'graduated' or 'tapered'.
A true compound radius will have at least two, sometimes three or four, distinct radii. Frets 0-10 might be 10", frets 10-15 12", and higher frets 14". They can either change abruptly from one radius to another, or incorporate one or more segments with a conical curve.
You won't find a true compound radius in a mass-manufactured guitar, because they have to be hand shaped. You will find them on some luthier built instruments. Oddly enough, they tend to avoid the term 'compound' (because of Warmouth's use?) - most prefer 'variable' to describe the radius.
But in either case, the radius is of a conical or compound radius is always larger at the saddle end than the nut. You seem to have exactly the opposite!
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I stand corrected, I'm easily confused! I didn't know about the third option either, but it makes sense. Thanks for the correction!
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming......
like the passengers in his car.
