Rating: **** (out of five stars possible).
I am giving this saddle holding jig fours stars because it can modify a saddle bottom better than any other jig I own and far better than human hands can manage. It is a little awkward to use and improvements are needed, but I now use it during every guitar restoration and getting great results.
This comes under the heading, “wish I had thought of that”. The Saddlemaster is a fundamentally great idea. These are currently selling at a discount on Reverb.com
The Saddlemaster kit consist of an aluminum block and integrated clamp which holds the saddle very firmly, a set of feeler gauges, an Allen wrench, a 1/16-inch diameter pin, and set of instructions.
In case you are not sure about the subject, the saddle slips into the bridge (dark colored wood on guitar top), and determines string height as the strings pass into the pin holes and into the guitar top. Working with neck angle, the saddle is the critical part on an acoustic guitar determining guitar playability.
The Saddlemaster helps to remove large or very small predicable amounts from the underside of the saddle. This is the edge that must be flat and perfectly straight. For simple modifications to saddle height this tool or jig works very well. It is designed only to take an equal amount from each end of the saddle. But you can work around this.
Usually, the strings are installed and tuned to pitch so that you can measure the string height at the 12th fret. First you measure the eight of the strings at the 12th fret, calculate the amount to lower the saddle, then set up the Saddlemaster. The foregoing assumes that you are starting with a too high saddle and want to reduce that height to the optimum.
The Saddlemaster design uses feeler gauges placed under the jig on both sides along the saddle. These determine how much will be removed from the saddle. The instructions say to first clamp the saddle lightly, place the jig with saddle on a flat surface, say a cast iron table saw top. Feeler gauges are placed under the jig along the sides but not under the saddle. You use a pin to force the saddle down through the Saddle Master onto the flat surface, tighten two Allen bolts firmly thereby clamping the saddle in place, then remove the gauges. After these steps, you are ready to sand off and reduce the saddle height by your calculated amount. We are talking about very precise amounts of material removal. The Saddlemaster kit comes with a huge selection of feeler gauges in a variety of thicknesses.
It really is a nice kit, as suppled. Unfortunately, you usually need to remove more from one end of the saddle than the other. The initial saddle arching and compensating process is a guesstimate, as to saddle height. Also, necks are not perfectly straight to the nearest .0001 inch as the design of this kit implies. This is an imprecise working environment, not super fine metal working. Necks bow, and twist under string tension. So, I want to suggest some improvements to the Saddle Master. I do use it now on every guitar, but not in ways suggested by the design or the instructions.
The block needs to be longer, so I can adjust longer classical guitar saddles.
Also, since the saddle height usually needs adjusting more on one end or the other, a longer block must accommodate feeler gauges at one or both ends. This can drastically improve the usefulness of the Saddle Master.
Also, a couple extra thick feeler strips are needed. Lots of times, I need to remove say, a tenth of an inch or even a sixteenth from one or both ends of the saddle.
Finally, the “protector” as supplied is not needed. I would never use a Dremel or such tool to remove material from the saddle especially when it is so easy to remove large amounts of saddle. It is far better to place a sheet of sand paper on a flat surface and sand away. Once set up is completed accurately, final sandling is a breeze and virtually fool proof, though I have found the fool in myself on occasion.
You do need a very flat hard surface such as a cast iron table saw top, drill press, jointer, band saw or granite honing block.
Lastly, the under side of the saddle master seems to be made of very hard steel. So far it is proving to be resistant to 220 grit sand paper.
All things considered, I am happy with the tool.
©2023 D.R. Hanna