Saddle Bridges

[mozzarate54]

Does the way the saddle bridges are lined up effect the tunning or tone of the strat? I see a lot of pictures of the saddles being lined up straight or some being shifted.

[soulman969]

They affect the intonation. Each saddle would adjust forward or backward independent off the others to get the same intonation of the first octave at the 12th fret as you would get playing the open string.

There isn't a set order. Each saddle is adjusted however it needs to be in order to properly intonate that string and they would typically never be in a completely straight line if the guitar was intonated properly.

Hope that's what you were looking for in the way of an answer.

[tekbow]

^ This

[fenson]

what they said + you can adjust each string height as well.

[Toriginal]

Yes it affects the sound greatly.
Check "intonation" on youtube for lots of instructions and how to's on intonation.
Mind you even the procedure varies for some. Regarding harmonics etc.

[hemingway]

It's weird, isn't it - logic would dictate that on properly intonated guitars the saddles end up nearer the bridge as the strings get thicker - unless, say, the wound strings are raised a lot higher than the thinner strings.

But I see pictures all the time of guitars (often those belonging to the stars) with the saddles all over the place - sometimes with the opposite of the pattern I've described above.

I know you intonate by sound, not by what looks right - but still, there are some weird-looking set-ups out there.