Unequal String Spacing

[jgmouton]

Hi,

I've just bought that Tele, and it's been the first time I've had a 3-saddle bridge. I must say I quite like it, but I'm surprised but the fact that the spaces between the G and B strings and A and D strings are wider than the rest. Am I being too finicky? Or should all spaces really be exactly the same?

Thank you for your help. Cheers.

 

[lammie200]

Not sure what model you have but a better bridge with better saddles is where I would go.

 

[Boreas]

Yeah - it is advisable to keep them fairly even to ensure a good balance of output from the pickups. Strings ideally should be positioned directly over the pole pieces. It looks to me like your saddles need to be closer together to direct the strings over the poles. I personally like the strings fairly evenly spaced so's my right hand doesn't have to search for them. If you are a strummer, it shouldn't matter much.

Sometimes the position of the saddles as determined for your intonation/compensation can subtly alter how the strings align. Pre-grooved saddles don't allow for fine tuning of the spacing after compensation like old smooth barrel saddles that can be notched where you want the strings.

Try simply squeezing them together with your fingers. If that doesn't result in the desired positioning, you may need to remove material from the saddles where they touch to bring them closer together. If that doesn't work, consider a different bridge/saddles. Or just live with it as many people do. It would bother me.

 

[fender4life]

Thats fine, nothing to worry about. few guitars are perfect in this regard. Look at stats....strat pickup poles have the same spacing for all 3 pickups. Now consider this....because the stings at the nut are spaced much closer than they are coming off the bridge, the strings go over the bridge pickup differently than the neck pickup. Even with the bridge pickup being slanted, the string run over the poles differently than the neck pickup because the string spacing is closer as you go from the bridge to the neck. So it isn't even possible for both neck and bridge pickups to be aligned over the poles perfectly. Thats with a vintage spaced bridge. With the narrower import bridge it'll be closer and maybe even correct, but the point is feders are mostly all like this to some degree. But n a strat even if one is perfect the other cannot be because the spacing of the strings is different at the neck pickup than the bridge and probably so with a import bridge too, tho to a lesser degree. So no, it's the nature of the beast and theres nothing wrong. I don't believe i have ever had any fender where the strings were aligned perfectly over all pickups, nor do i think it matters at all.

 

[yegbert]

Try ignoring the string spacing. Play normally, and see if you feel (low E string too close to fretboard edge), or you or a listener hears (volume balance across strings - not likely, strings probably close enough to magnets to not matter) any anomalies.

If you still are bothered by it, take 6 closeup pictures with the lens directly above each string’s saddle touch point, evaluating from them whether any string is skewed significantly from a straight line. Don’t trust any single picture of multiple strings, as apparent angles will be deceiving. If any there are any significant angles, you could try shaving some off the ends of offending saddles by sanding, filing, or grinding. Or you might try some different saddles. I doubt the bridgeplate’s STB holes are incorrect, but if they are they could be corrected with a needle file. Each string’s tension will try to pull it on a straight path between the nut groove and the STB hole.

 

[mandoloony]

Yeah, it's not a big deal for most players. Some prefer slightly inconsistent spacing, especially for fingerpicking. And those are certainly not far enough out to cause output balance problems.

But if it bothers you (and there's no right or wrong here), I agree that a better bridge is the solution. It's a lot easier and more likely to get the desired result than modifying the existing one.

 

[Little Red Tele]

try switching the grooved steel barrels for smooth brass saddles - you can adjust the string spacing better and you can file a notch right where you like it, or the strings will make their own grooves eventually

 

[Matthias]

The outside saddles look to flare out a bit. Do they push in at all? Any saddles that don’t fit snug - or sit at the sides - can drift about a bit and do this. I’ve had a few where you need to jiggle the saddles about to get a good alignment.

 

[Wrighty]

Not sure what model you have but a better bridge with better saddles is where I would go.

My new AmPro deluxe has a similar issue, seems most tgree saddle bridges do. Equal out the spacing and the strings don’t sit on the saddles in the right place. My slight tendency to OCD makes it difficult but I have learned to live with the compromise. Will never understand why Fender can’t just sort it though.

 

[Fenderbaum]

Roswell pickups.?
I smell china long way.

 

[Boreas]

My new AmPro deluxe has a similar issue, seems most tgree saddle bridges do. Equal out the spacing and the strings don’t sit on the saddles in the right place. My slight tendency to OCD makes it difficult but I have learned to live with the compromise. Will never understand why Fender can’t just sort it though.

If everyone placed a warranty claim for it, perhaps they would. Put in a claim.

 

[Freeman Keller]

Or should all spaces really be exactly the same?

The simple answer to that question is that there are two ways to space the strings on a guitar. You can either put them on equal centers (take the spacing of the E to E strings and divide by 5) or you can put the same space between the outsides of the strings (the calcs are a little more difficult but the StewMac string spacing rue makes it easy). Without measuring yours I can't tell much but most people prefer the latter method. Here I am laying out the spacing for a nut.

 

[lammie200]

My new AmPro deluxe has a similar issue, seems most tgree saddle bridges do. Equal out the spacing and the strings don’t sit on the saddles in the right place. My slight tendency to OCD makes it difficult but I have learned to live with the compromise. Will never understand why Fender can’t just sort it though.

Hmm. I guess that I would measure the slot differences on each saddle and see if there was a better way to rearrange them to get the spacing correct. I only have partscasters and none of them have any Fender parts. All of mine space out perfectly. Personally I would't want the spacing to be off.

 

[Wrighty]

If everyone placed a warranty claim for it, perhaps they would. Put in a claim.

I really don’t think they’d consider it valid.

 

[Winky]

Hi,

I've just bought that Tele, and it's been the first time I've had a 3-saddle bridge. I must say I quite like it, but I'm surprised but the fact that the spaces between the G and B strings and A and D strings are wider than the rest. Am I being too finicky? Or should all spaces really be exactly the same?

Thank you for your help. Cheers.

View attachment 1164794

The bridge looks badly made. The spacing should be even. Maybe it's just that the barrels are too long? File them shorter? Do the screws splay out, or are they parallel?

 

[feldkeen]

Don't you just loosen strings and push everything over to the right.

 

[radiocaster]

I just noticed mine is like that too. Never bothered me before. Still doesn't.

 

[Freeman Keller]

It looks like the E/B barrel is flipped over, the high E string should have the minimum amount of compensation of all of them. You'll have to take the height adjusting screws out and put them in the other side of the barrel and redo the intonation but the way the ends of the barrels are cut it might also fix the spacing.

 

[RandomKaren]

Those saddles don't look right, but replacements are cheap.

 

[yegbert]

…Am I being too finicky?…

View attachment 1164794

If it‘s only the way it looks that’s bothering you, and not causing any other anomalies (see my earlier note)…