Jean Larrivee L-03 R: Bone Saddle


1. A Loose Saddle is a real tone killer. The instrument's volume also decreases because there is less con- tact surface between the saddle and the bridge. This saddle is loose enough that I'm able to fit a .007" feeler guage between the saddle and the edge of the saddle slot. This instrument came to us with a tusq saddle that was adjusted by an out of town repair person. Tusq is a synthetic material. Many believe that tusq does not produce as loud or as clear of a tone as does bone. From our experience, tusq does not stand up as well to wear and tear as does bone.	2. Adjusting the Truss Rod is the first step in making a new saddle. In order to accurately guage the height of the replacement saddle I need to be able to measure the action after the instrument has been properly adjusted.


3. Measuring the Action at the 12th fret gives me a good indication of how my new saddle will relate to the old one. In this case the action was 1/32" lower than my client de- sired. This means that the new sad- dle will be 1/16" taller than the old saddle. because I measure the action at the 12th fret any adjust- ments I make at the saddle must be double the desired effect at the 12th fret.	4. Measuring the Saddle Slot with the shop's calipers tells me how thick the bone blank must be. The slot measures out at .122". I'll round that up to .125" (or 1/8th of an inch) and treat that as my finished thick- ness.


5. Measuring the Bone Blank with the calipers indicated that this piece of bone was .127" thick. That should be just thick enough for me to sand out the grinder marks left from the supplier's rough shaping of the blank. We get most of our bone saddle blanks from Luthier's Mercentile.	6. Thicknessing the Blank is pretty easy using Stew Mac's 3m fre-cut 220 grit sandpaper on the shop's dead flat granite slab. I'll follow this up with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper to prepare the saddle for final polishing.


7. Laying out the Blank to Rough Length.	8. Grinding the Blank to Rough Length is pretty quick with the disk sander.


9. Rounding the Ends of the blank on the disk sander is quick and ac- curate. The trick is finding a way to stabalize the saddle so it doesn't wobble to and fro.	10. Test Fitting the Blank before I continue ensures that I have a nice snug fit.


11. Tracing the Contour of the Original Saddle ensures that the radius of the new saddle will match up to that of the original.	12. Roughing out the Contour goes quickly with a few delicate passes over the belt sander.


13. I Layed out the String Spacing because I will be comp- ensating this new saddle.	14. Crowning the Top of the saddle. I like to do this with a small mill file while the bone is secured by the shop's small vice.


15. Compensating for Intonation on this instrument is pretty straight forward. The saddle slot in the bridge was rouded at an angle which means the saddle is self compensating for intonation. I'm recessing the B string a bit so it will play in tune all the way up the neck.	16. I'll Sand the Top of the Saddle with some 3m fre cut sand- paper which we purchased from the Stewart Macdonald guitar shop supply catalog. This sandpaper lasts longer than the black hardware store bought wet/dry sandpaper. I'll start with 220 grit and move up through 600 grit in preparation for polishing.


17. Polishing the Saddle begins with #0000 steel wool. I'll then polish the saddle with Stew Mac's micro-mesh abrassive pads. I use 7 steps of these little guys, starting at 2,400 and ending at 12,000. These pads leave the bone with a really nice shine. I'll wipe down the bone with mineral spirits to remove any bone dust and sanding grit from the pores.	18. Final Action Adjustment requires accurate layout. I'm measur- ing the pencil lead that is protruding from this mechanical pencil in prep- aration for marking the saddle for it's final action adjustment. I had to string up the guitar with the new sad- dle and take measurements at the 12th fret (as I did in step #3). I determined that the action was 1/64th of an inch too tall. That means that I'll be removing 1/32" to achieve the desired measurement at the 12th fret.


19. Laying out the Final Action Adjustment is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I'm using the pencil like a small marking guage. The tip of the pencil acts as a stop that butts up against the bottom of the saddle. That means that the 1/32" of protruding pencil lead will leave a straight and consistent mark on the side of the saddle.	20. Final Sanding of the Bottom of the Saddle begins on the belt sander. I'll leave the saddle a touch proud so I can safely square the bottom of the saddle and remove the belt sanding marks first on the granite slab with some 220 grit, then on a flat mill file. It's important that the bottom of the saddle be flat and exhibit absolutely no sanding marks. This is especially important when an instrument has an under the saddle pickup (as this Larrivee L-03 R does). As I run the saddle accross the file I'll continually check for flatness with one of our straightedges.


21. Seating the Saddle is very important. If the saddle is not properly seated it will not make proper contact with the bottom of the saddle slot or the pickup. In either case the guitar's tone will suffer if the saddle is not making full contact. I'll gently tap the saddle with a light mallet to ensure it's seated. I'm not comfort- able sending small shockwaves through the instrument so I'll hold a small piece of scrap steel against the underside of the bridge plate to absorb the gentle tapping of the mallet.	22. All Done. With a properly fitted new bone saddle this Larrive exhibits enhanced tone, volume and playability.