The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    I have an ebony bridge. The high E on the highest four frets has some loss of sustain, the higher the fret the more it's obvious. It has to be the saddle slot. The pickup is no where near the string and no other strings do this.

    Before I start filing, I need guidance. I think I want to have the highest point of the slot near the pickup, so I'd file with a downward slope that heads toward the tailpiece. Is that wrong?

    I have 12s on the guitar. Should I used a 12 or 11 file?

    Thanks.

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I couldn't resist trying. I took a .013 file and made a couple passes at a 45 degree angle upward toward the headstock. I then took a .010 file and toward the peak of that slope for a few passes horizontal to the floor. It helped.

    The last two frets have little sustain still.

    Metal is easier to work with I think.

  4. #3

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    If it's losing sustain, the problem is more likely to be that the slot is already a little too deep. Try raising the saddle just a little.

  5. #4

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    The is an option but the action will suffer. The high E string is already slightly higher than the B string.

  6. #5

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    I try to get all the strings to the same height, then raise the saddle enough to get clear notes with no buzzing, with a somewhat light touch. But every instrument is a little different. Getting it all just right requires perfect fret leveling, which isn't always present. Yours might need just a touch off the last few frets, but that's hard to tell without actually playing it.

  7. #6

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    the bridge saddle radius needs to match the fretboards....you can get radius gauges from stewmac or amazon....once that's right, then just adjust bridge height...

    cheers

  8. #7

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    Here's some help from 7 years ago.


    Bridge Slots Issues