proper way to file bridge

[fender_mod]

so i have a BAII and the only way to adjust the strings so they line up with the pole pieces is to raise the height of the saddles all the way left or right on one side and then its perfectly alined all across the bord. its fine but the action gets a little high at the bottom of the neck so i think its time i file some notches. if the string rest on the red dot with no adjustment ot the bridge at all and the blue dot is where i need it to be, of the attached pic which way do i do it? parallel to the saddle or across it? (youll see what im talking about)

[fender_mod]

come on, i know there are alot of smart people here that can answer this question

[Trevorus]

Do you really need to file the thing at an angle to get the string spacing to line up properly?

[fender_mod]

dont know, thats what im asking, i guess i just file it in example 1, never done this before. ive got 3 sets of pickups on my bass so i need them to line up or its all out of wack. please help

[fender_mod]

well in the pic i drew the rectangle is the saddle of course, the lines i drew in it would be the groves

[DemoEtc]

I think what he's showing/asking/saying, is that on the bass he has, the BA saddles are notched a certain way, and the notches don't match where the pole pieces are. It's like a different string spacing. So he's wants to renotch the saddles and is asking whether or not to make the notches at an angle.

For me, I think it should be angled as in example 2, ramping from the back to the front of the saddle. It may not have to be that great of an angle though; just enough to make sure the string breaks (I know, not a good word) over the front edge of the saddle.

Hope this helps.

[Turnaround]

It should be as in option 3 (attached). The string should make a straight line from the front of the saddle (neck side) to the anchor point on the back. Option 1 is OK, but option 2 is bad - the string will tend to want to climb out of the slot when under tension. Option 3 is the best.