Saddles And Bridges. Saddles and bridges are the parts that help to transmit the energy of the strings and turn it into sound. In a modern flat top I often use ebony bridges and prefer to use bone or fossilized ivory saddles. Before I make one of the bone saddles I make the first saddle from Mycarta or some other plastic. This is not an issue of cost. Rather, as a new guitar settles in, things will change and I use the plastic as a throw away. You can also obtain your intonation feedback and with the old saddle make adjustments accordingly.

After the guitar has settled, make the saddle. Using a belt sander, rough shape the bone blank. When it gets close to the desired shape and thickness, use a truing sander. You can make one using a very flat board with sandpaper glued to it. Make it large enough to clamp in a vice and secure it to your bench. Then place it on the truing sander so that you can remove extremely slight amounts of material and true the squareness if needed. The saddle should be snug and secure. If it is loose the intonation will be difficult to hold. If it is too tight, it will be very difficult to remove. You can also modify the saddle to compensate for off intonation. If you are sharp, you can angle the saddle toward the pins to lengthen the string. After a few saddle adjustments your skill will improve.

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