MAKING A BONE SADDLE

JACK ELLIS.

Setting the saddle height on an acoustic is a crucial part of setting one up, and sometimes you’ll need a replacement. But similar to top nuts, a saddle is pretty much unique to each guitar so it’s best to create a bespoke one rather than an off-the-shelf pre-cut saddle.

Your saddle will need to be exactly the right dimensions for the bridge saddle slot and, crucially, the correct radius curvature to match your fretboard’s radius. It also needs to be the right height so it’s a comfortable action to play – so that’s more than enough reason to build one from scratch!

A lot of saddles that are fitted to acoustics these days are made from resin or other injection-moulded plastics. But you can do better than that. We’re always making bone saddles for customers in our shop and it’s because it improves the tonality and, when made correctly, the sustain too. Other options to upgrade with are real horn ( often buffalo), brass or synthetic Tusq.