What is a compensated bridge ukulele?
The bridge saddle location of the guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, ukulele and of most fretted instruments is moved a bit back from its nominal location. This change in location is called bridge saddle compensation. Compensation effectively lengthens the string length of fretted notes.
What does the saddle do on a ukulele?
Saddle: The saddle sits on top of the bridge and hold the strings in place at the body of the ukulele (like the nut at the neck). The saddle holds the strings in place at the body and is raised to keep the strings the proper distance from the fretboard.
How do you compensate a saddle?
After the saddle ends are properly contoured, it’s time to compensate the saddle. With the saddle in the slot, use a miniature flat file to carve the intonation points for each string (Fig.
Are compensated saddles worth it?
The reason most guitarists say a compensated saddle is a ‘must’ for accurate intonation with standard and other tunings is for a few reasons. For example, if the fretted note on the 12th fret is a sharper pitch to the harmonic note the intonation needs to be adjusted.
How do I know if my ukulele action is too high?
Step 4 – Check Action Depending on the ukulele, we like to set the action at 2.5mm to 3.0mm in height. This is the distance between the strings and the 12th fret. If the strings are too high, the instrument becomes uncomfortable to play, if the strings are too low, it can cause fret buzz.
How high should the nut be on a ukulele?
The height at the nut is set by the depth of the string slots. I use a feeler gauge to set the bottom of the slot . 050 inches (1.27 mm) above the fretboard. I find that factory setups also have a saddle that is too short.
What does a compensated saddle do?
A compensated saddle includes ‘grooves’ or ‘notches’ where the high E, B and G strings rest. This adjusts the length of the string ‘compensating’ for accurate ‘intonation’ so the guitar sounds in tune with notes played higher up the fretboard. A non-compensated excludes any grooves and is flat across the surface.
Do classical guitars have compensated saddles?
because the strings are much closer in size (mass?) between the trebles and basses, classical guitars don’t require compensation in the same way that steel strings do. as waddyt mentions, it’s really only the G string that may need a different compensation from the others.