Question about spacing of bridge saddles

OriginalCrash · #1 07-03-2007, 07:21 PM

On a standard Fender (well, Squier, actually) bridge, do the saddles need to be pushed up against each other? I recently did my first setup, but I don't know if they need to be touching or not. If they do touch, the strings don't line up perfectly between the pickups' pole pieces, but I haven't noticed any adverse effect on sound. So, do they or don't they? Thanks.

Brian

Jim Breece · #2 07-03-2007, 07:45 PM

I always have made sure they're tight together, on the theory that it would be more solid and produce better sound. I realize now, 30+ years on, that I put together the theory in my head and stuck by it without ever actually testing it. You might try it one way for a few days and then the other and see if you hear or feel any difference-you can't hurt anything either way and you may actually learn something as opposed to assuming it as I have. I don't believe it's going to be a very noticeable difference regardless, unless the saddles actually move in the course of playing.

JimmyM · #3 07-04-2007, 02:19 AM

Usually, Fender saddles sort of pull themselves to line up naturally. But if they don't, I'll push them together to where they touch and let it straighten itself out.

lug · #4 07-04-2007, 10:06 AM

I don't think they normally have to touch. Much later in life, one of the innovations Leo Fender did at G&L was install a set screw into the side of the high mass bridge that pushes the saddles together.

OriginalCrash · #5 07-04-2007, 10:38 AM

Yeah, I knew about the G&L bridge. That's what got me wondering about it. It seems that the G&L bridge design implies it's best for the saddles to be pressed against each other. But when I do that on my bass, the strings don't line up perfectly between the pole pieces. So I just didn't know which was more important, if either really mattered.

Brian