Bridge/saddles, scale length and intonation help

[LunarSlingShot]

So I thought I knew what I was doing but now I am starting to second guess myself.

When measuring for scale length, from nut to saddles, where are you measuring from to get 25.5 inch Do you set the end of the tape measure in the middle of the nut? At the side of the nut closest to the headstock, or from the edge closest to the fretboard?

And then at the end, do you measure to the middle of the saddle?

 

[LunarSlingShot]

For instance, at this measurement, do you think that the saddles have enough play for this to properly intonate if it was measured from the fretboard edge of the nut?

 

[Telecentric]

yes

 

[Gaz_]

I'd kept it simpler than this. I simply measured my existing telecaster from the nut to the back of the bridge plate, and set up the new one accordingly. Then I knew there was enough adjustment. I'm not sure it's the proper way, but I got my 12 string to intonate of it!

 

[joeford]

there's a ton of play in the saddle adjustments...so you can get away with eyeball measurements. i usually use a piece of masking tape over the 25.5" line and just make sure the saddles fall in that area.

is it routed for a single coil bridge? that rout is usually pretty cramped and forces your hand on the bridge placement. drop a pickup in there and i bet it'll tell you where the plate should be mounted!

 

[schmee]

It's approximate anyway, Your high E will likely be less, and low E likely more than 25.5 . But yeah, bridge edge of the nut to where the string rolls over the bridge segment.

 

[archtop_fjk]

My approach for bridge location measurements is to use a 18" metal ruler and (1) confirm that the nut edge to middle of the 12th fret is 1/2 scale length (e.g. 12.75" for 25.5" scale), then (2) measure from the middle of the 12th fret to the bridge saddle location - the point of string contact at the high E string saddle should be 12.75" (i.e. no compensation). The remaining saddles are adjusted for intonation. Of course you can fiddle with compensation on all strings but the bridge plate placement should be correct. If you are routing a guitar body for pickup cavities, check and double check everything (!) as there is no easy fix once the pickup cavity routes are made!

 

[LunarSlingShot]

This is a pre-made body in which the string through holes and the pickup routes were already done. I was just concerned that they were in the wrong spot. as it seems that the saddles are already backed out quite a bit.

 

[LutherBurger]

This is a pre-made body in which the string through holes and the pickup routes were already done. I was just concerned that they were in the wrong spot. as it seems that the saddles are already backed out quite a bit.

Looks good to me. In a worst possible case scenario, you would simply need to replace the intonation screws with longer ones, but the ones you have there should be fine.

Nice color.

 

[LunarSlingShot]

Looks good to me. In a worst possible case scenario, you would simply need to replace the intonation screws with longer ones, but the ones you have there should be fine.

Nice color.

It's for my wife. Doesn't hurt I think the purple is pretty darn cool too.

Thanks for the help

 

[EsquireBoy]

IME the saddles essentially need to be set back from the scale length in order to compensate the thickness of the strings.
I’ve read that it was best to locate the bridge and/or the nut so that the saddles can have the most adjustment possible backwards.

On a telecaster bridge you also do not want to have the saddles to be set back too much, because it becomes difficult to turn the adjustment screws (that are more and more angled), and it increases your string break angle too much.

 

[old wrench]

So I thought I knew what I was doing but now I am starting to second guess myself.

When measuring for scale length, from nut to saddles, where are you measuring from to get 25.5 inch Do you set the end of the tape measure in the middle of the nut? At the side of the nut closest to the headstock, or from the edge closest to the fretboard?

And then at the end, do you measure to the middle of the saddle?

Here is the way I do it:

Measure from the edge of the nut closest to the fretboard to the point on the high "E" saddle where the high "E" string makes contact.
When using traditional Tele barrel saddles, and without getting too complicated, we can say that point is the middle of the barrel. That will be close enough for the purpose of locating the bridge.

(To be precise - we would need to measure to the point where the string makes first contact with the saddle.)

OK, that's where the high "E" saddle is, but keep in mind that the point of contact for the rest of the strings and saddles will be progressively further back, or slightly longer than 25.5" because of intonation correction.

So, you'll have a measurement of 25.5" from the edge of the nut closest to fretboard to the point of string contact on the saddle for the high "E" string. For the rest of the strings, that measurement will be slightly longer to compensate for intonation.

That measurement that we use to designate the scale measurement, 25.5", is the minimum length, and measured at the high "E" string. It will be incrementally greater as you move towards the lower strings because of intonation requirements. The difference depends on things like the gauge of the strings and whether they are wound or not.


g

 

[moosie]

Old Wrench beat me to it. This is exactly what I do. ^

 

[Peegoo]

When you set up your bridge to place it in the correct spot on the body, first set the high E saddle in the center of its adjustment range on its intonation screw. Next, make your measurement from the string breakover point on the high E saddle to the front of the nut (the edge that faces the frets).

 

[BryMelvin]

FWIW Stewmac sells a tool made to use to place saddle on acoustics. It works for electrics too to help place the bridge

 

[FenderGuy53]

Here is the way I do it:

Measure from the edge of the nut closest to the fretboard to the point on the high "E" saddle where the high "E" string makes contact.
When using traditional Tele barrel saddles, and without getting too complicated, we can say that point is the middle of the barrel. That will be close enough for the purpose of locating the bridge.

(To be precise - we would need to measure to the point where the string makes first contact with the saddle.)

OK, that's where the high "E" saddle is, but keep in mind that the point of contact for the rest of the strings and saddles will be progressively further back, or slightly longer than 25.5" because of intonation correction.

So, you'll have a measurement of 25.5" from the edge of the nut closest to fretboard to the point of string contact on the saddle for the high "E" string. For the rest of the strings, that measurement will be slightly longer to compensate for intonation.

That measurement that we use to designate the scale measurement, 25.5", is the minimum length, and measured at the high "E" string. It will be incrementally greater as you move towards the lower strings because of intonation requirements. The difference depends on things like the gauge of the strings and whether they are wound or not.

^^^ THIS ^^^

 

[Vizcaster]

Instead of measuring from the middle of the saddle or nut, you're looking for the speaking length of the string so you want to measure from the takeoff points.

Incidentally, if you're using a tape measure, the little tab on the end is supposed to slide precisely enough to adjust for its own thickness depending on whether you hook it over the end of something or you push it up against something. That's fine for measuring a 12 foot span of moulding, but for anything precise it's a good idea to line up the 1" mark as your start point then subtract 1 from the measurement at the other end.

 

[Biffasmum]

Great advice here. Highly recommend using a proper straight edge ruler rather than tape measure.