Pablo, I've just found your channel, It is superb, thank you for such clear instruction, It is wonderful to watch a craftsman at work, I will have a busy time watching the rest of your videos. I was going to lower the saddle on a guitar I have just bought, but after watching your video I now know it is set exactly right and I would have spoiled it! time spent in research is never wasted. Muchas gracias!
Thank you so much. This is a clear, well-explained, detailed process of shaping a classical or flamenco guitar saddle. I am doing a setup on my first classical guitar I've ever worked on, and it has no saddle, though I have bone blanks for just this kind of job. I am a self-taught amateur guitar "technician.". I have worked on my own guitars, as well as many friend's guitars, with proper setups and minor repairs. Presently, I buy inexpensive, used acoustics and get them back in great playing shape and then give them away to local kids and adults who want to learn guitar. I also box some of these acoustics and ship to Haiti, where our church supports a large, in-country ministry, and guitars, cases, strings, picks, everything, are given to individuals who can or want to play guitar at newly founded churches, but could never afford such an item. I love working on guitars and to help others have the chance to own a decent, very "playable" instrument. Videos, like the one you kindly took the time to record and post here, help me get good, great-playing guitars in the hands of beginners wherever I can afford place them. I am grateful to you for sharing your expertise in these videos.
jamasters62 thanks so much for your kind words, it is very encouraging. It is great to hear about your passion to bless others with the guitars that you work on. All the best!
Lovely comment (Don here from Hamilton NZ on my Wife's tablet-SUSAN) I do very similar, it's very satisfying,and Iv'e learned so much from my hobby, all these videos are helpful 😊😊😊
In case you don't have such tools, I'd just like to say that all you need is a single piece of 120-240 grit sand paper (both is better), and lay it on a table. Then you just hold the bone piece in your hand, and sand it first to height/width/curvature, then tilt it slightly to get the angle. If the saddle profile becomes very low you'll start to sand your finger-tips, so put the sand paper on the end of a table, and sand half+ at a time. I just made a nut and saddle this way, and it turned out very well.
Amazing, Pablo! It appears you did this video straight through with no edits. A mark of a true professional. Been watching countless videos on this subject, and yours is my absolute favorite. You helped me figure out the subtle but annoying sound I was getting from 2-3 strings due to the fact I wasn't sloping the back of saddle correctly. I would also like to mention the tone of your voice is very relaxing, and made your explanations easy to follow. I'm in the US, but I would definitely consider taking one of your guitar building courses if/when money/time allow. Thanks so much! Take care. Stan
Stan Bailey thanks for your comments, I am very pleased you found it helpful. Just in case you are interested I have just put together an online course. It is always better to come and do a course with me but in the meantime.. the info is on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
so what if Englisg speakers cannot understand him ... He can get aqnother person to do the talking in plain English. This is not political correctness... it is about luthierie and speaking plain English for a Google-owned website.
Thank you Pablo for such detailed explanations of this step. I really appreciate your patience and precise working. I want to get started building my guitar but want to learn all I can before I start, and you are a great teacher.
A great video for non Luthiers too. The need for a new saddle will come our way some day and it is great to know it is a job we can all do...with a little patience, feel and touch.
I think your explanation and diagrams were spot-on. Thank you for taking the time to make an excellent tutorial on how to make a classical guitar nut. I definitely will go to your website!
Double like! This is the best explanation and video guide in the whole youtube I found! Michael Thames has a good video about a saddle also, but this one is better. Thank you so much!
I've been considering shaping a new saddle so I checked out this video. It was so well thought out and executed that I just cracked a bottle of wine and watched it as entertainment. Bravo!
Hi Pablo, It was nice to find an instructional video the clear enough that explains how to make a good job for a classical guitar saddle. There is only a thing with the microphone you use when recording your video and it sound in a low level range so, I had to listen carefully to your video and don't miss any of your explanations .
I think most probable issues have been showed and said here. I missed one however. The edges of the base of the bone should be given a few strikes on fine sandpaper for a better fit. Wen the edges are too sharp it will not properly rest on the bottom of the sleeve. But all in all I still dig these instruction video's and I'm really happy that Mr. Requena is willing to share it with the guitar repairing community!
Archelo A thank you, I am very pleased you found it useful. Just in case you are interested I have a series of tutorials on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
The body pitch of a guitar is the main note that the body of the guitar will produce naturally. To work out what this note is there are different ways, the more accurate one is to hold the guitar and hum into the sound hole scale until you find the note that will cause a vibration in the instrument that you will feel in your hands very strongly, when you find that note, hum it into an electronic tuner and this will give you the note. Ideally you want to have F sharp, very often if you have an A or a note near enough to A you can have problems similar to the ones you are having. Sorry I can't help you more, This is all a bit too much to try to explain in a message because there are quite a few variables involved to be able to pinpoint exactly where the problem with your guitar is. Ideally it would need to be seen in order to test a few options, that's why I was suggesting to visit a luthier, if you look online I am sure you would be able to find someone near you.
Thanks Pablo I’m not too musical but tried your suggestion and found that the note producing the most vibration was A3 so it looks as though you’re right. I do intend to take it to a luthier to see if he can at least reduce the amount of buzz. Thanks again for your time and patience. Leslie
Thank you Pablo, a very interesting and informative video! I have spent many hours with sandpaper and a set of small hobby files, shaping and customising saddles for my guitars. I was very interested to hear that you don't need any compensation for intonation on your instruments - is has been my experience that all of my guitars need some adjustment at the saddle to play in tune, especially the third G string. Admittedly I'm playing factory produced guitars, Katoh/Cordoba etc, and not your hand made instruments! I have found some saddles on Ebay which are compensated differently for each string - the break point on the saddle for each is as follows: Low E, A, high E break points are all at the front of saddle, (closest to soundhole) D and B break point is around the middle of the saddle, and the troublesome G break point is set as far back towards the tie block as possible. I have shaped bone saddles to this "general formula" and found the intonation to be very accurate. I use Savarez 520R strings only, and this works very well. I have read that some luthiers compensate the nut as well as the saddle - do you do anything special at the nut on your instruments? I realise that string height as well as the amount of pressure applied by the fretting hand also can affect the intonation, so it's hard to have a general rule.
Hi Andrew, as you say, it is hard to have a general rule as each guitar is individual. I can see why your system would work for your instruments but in my experience I would say that most high end guitars don’t need so much compensation, perhaps a little adjustment to the G string. Thanks for you comment anyway.
Thank you so much for an excellent description and method of forming a bone saddle. I have an Esteve Ltd guitar which has had an annoying buzz on the 5th string since new and the dealer has never been able to fix it even with the action at the base side at 5.5mm. I am now going to try your method in making a new saddle and hopefully this may eliminate this annoying buzz.
Leslie Farrell just to let you know that a buzz like the one you described is probably nothing to do with the saddle. Specially if you set up a high action and the problem didn’t go. To me this could be one or a combination of these three things. 1st, check the body pitch of your guitar, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is A in which case there isn’t a lot that you can do. 2nd, check the top profile of your current saddle, you should have a slope going down from the front of the saddle towards the tie block, if you have a half round shape you could have problems, I explain this in the video. 3rd: if the previous 2 options are not the problem then you need to look at the nut, but this I would leave for an experienced guitar maker. If you let me know where about you are I might be able to recommend someone. Good luck with this.
I heard that some luthiers string the guitar up to full tension with the unfinished saddle and than wait 7~10 days before finally adjusting it to perfection !
Hi Pablo, I have just come across your videos and find them fascinating. Your work and teaching is amazing. It is not important but I would like to know why you have English power socket system? Maybe one year I can find the time to take one of your classes.👍🏻 Kind regards, Paul.
Hi Paul, thanks for your comments, I used to live in the UK, in Sussex and many of my videos were done in my workshop there. Just in case you are interested I have a course where I explain in detail how to make your own guitar, you can find it on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
At the start when you use the straight edge to find the distance at the 12th fret, is that a formula where you multiply x2? It's always just a matter of multiplying x2?
Dear Pablo Thanks so much for another one of your very clear and most excellent videos! One question. If one was making a 650mm scale length guitar (for instance) would the 'break over' point on the saddle measure precisely that same 650mm from the nut edge? Cheers and thanks! Cath
No, you will have to compensate for the enharmonisity of the string. So the thicker the string is the more it has to be compensated. This will wary with different types of strings and of course I'm not an expert but for my last guitar I made the 6th string 652.5mm long and the 1st string 651,5mm. With the DAddario EJ45 medium this seems to give pretty good results...
Hi Catherine, I ad 1,5 mm to the scale length, so for a 650 guitar, the distance from the nut to the front edge of the saddle would be 651,5 mm. Is that what you where asking? Pablo
Dear Maestro, your saddle construction is a final function of fingerboard setup, as exhaustively illustrated in an other video, and the bridge design. I learned your bridge is 8 mm high, so it could be the completed saddle protrudes over the saddle slot not too much, I suppose 3 mm at the bases and 2 at trebles for a total bridge height mm11/10 that, if I'm not wrong, you consider the right height. Just a question about the bridge design: the saddle slot depth how affect the sound trasmission or in other words what you consider the right thickness of the base slot to the soundboard? Thank you very much again for your precious videos!
costantino proietti the depth for the saddle slot is 4 mm, this is deep enough for the saddle to be well fitted into the bridge. I hope this what you need.
You are such an exceptional teacher, thank you. I had my classical in a shop this week for work on a new saddle but not very pleased, thanks Pablo for your video I think I will make my own now. Oh and one question, the action on my guitar is too high, how close can my saddle be to the bridge without any problems with my strings buzzing?
To set up the action you need to measure it at the 12th fret, from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string, for a classical guitar you usually need 4 mm at the 6th string and 3 mm at the 1rst. The hight of the saddle depends on the angle of the neck, hopefully once you have the right action you would have about 2 mm of bone sticking out of the saddle slot on the bridge. I hope this makes sense.
Great video as usual. For the saddle placement, do you use the full scale length plus roughly 1 mm for compensation? Or do you locate the saddle by moving the bridge around pre finish until you hit the right notes?
Dassouki Photography yes, position the bridge at scale+1.5mm and cover the area where the bridge would go with masking tape so that the polish doesn’t get to it.
1981 i bought a flamenco guitar from Lopez Bellido in Granada. The saddle has been lowered af few times and now the crowne is less than ½mm above the bridge! Reminds me of Venecia - when will it go under?
I know, this is a common problem with flamenco guitars. If your guitar is loosing tone because of the low brake angle of the strings you could do a 12 holes conversion. I have a video about it in my TH-cam channel. If what you want is to have a bit more high on the saddle then you will need to do some work on the fingerboard.
@@redkitekk Thank you. Now I´ve seen the video on 12 holes, and I might give it at go. But in this case the bridge itself has been levered, leaving the slot only 2mm deep, so I wonder if it´s also a good idea to carve out the bottom of the slot, fx. an additional 1 - 1.2mm - if possible - and what tool would you use?
@@sorenutube yes, you could deepen the slot but you would need to do it evenly along the length. You can do this with a miniature hand router, Veritas does one that could do the job.
@@redkitekk Thank´s again Pablo. Just what I needed to hear. Your recomandations are very helpfull - and inspiring - as are you videos:) Greetings from Denmark.
Pablo, I just came across this video and its wonderful to see such a step by step course in a 1/2 hr clip,...Awesome! Thanks You. I do have 1 question for you; You mentioned toward the end of this clip that there is no need to "compensate" your saddles due to that your guitars have very good/great intonation. I'm curious how you approach intonation during the design stage. By my experience with my own relatively inexpensive classical and reading/hearing many online clips, the 3rd and many times 2nd string as well will always have some intonation issue due to the inherit design of the guitar itself. Do you find that to be a false-statement or possibly not fully informed comment? thanks again.
I have 2.5 years old Takamine H8SS. Great guitar but curious if I need to lower its action. The setup is currently from the factory in Japan. I have a bone saddle blank bought from Takamine, if I were to have this done. My current setup is about 4mm at the 12th fret of the 6th string (from top of fret to bottom of string) and about ~1mm at the first fret, with a ~2mm bone saddle height above the bridge itself. The 1st string at the 12 fret is about 3mm. The truss seems ok, no string buzzes and the truss isn’t vibrating. Would you recommend adjustments, or leave well enough alone? I know this topic is discussed over and over, but I’m not that expert on these matters. Thanks, Richard Thornton
Hi Richard. The action you have described is quite standard and you should be ok with it. If there is no buzzing and the action is confortable to you I would leave as it is.
Hi Pablo, I have a few questions. Firstly what kind of saw did u use to cut the saddle or should I say what was cutting edge. Saw teeth or a file. Very fine? Secondly the slot in my guitar is thinner than the bone saddle I bought by some margin. Is it just sanding to make it thinner or perhaps widen slot in the bridge. Finally when u fit the strings do u need to make slots in the saddle to stop them from moving? If so how do I u do that accurately? Different for each string? Sounds like I need to go on a course. Gracias from Englaterra.
Hi, the saw I use to cut the bone for the saddle is a jewellery saw, but any fine saw would work. To fit the bone to the slot in the bridge you need to sand down the bone unlit it fits in the slot, you don't want to push the bone into the slot for it to fit but the bone mustn't fall of the slot either if you were to turn the guitar over. You don't need to cut slots in the saddle for the strings to find the right position, they will do that by themselves. Of course if you join one of my courses you will find that it is a lot easier tho learn all these thing. If you are interested in joining one of my courses here in Spain you can find all about it on www.guitarmakingcourse.org or alternatively a have a course you can purchase on line if you go to www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
@@redkitekk Gracias Pablo. Tengo a tocar manana a una fiesta. Tengo constructor nuevo bridge hoy. Gracias por su rapido palabras. Estudie espanol en me escuela, hace cincuento anos. Lo olbido mucho de los palabras y la gramatica pero me gusto hablo donde es possible. Buenas dias.
So looking at your saddle that you have the highest point at the leading edge, what do you do in the instance where you have to set/change the intonation on the saddle?
Hi Pablo, I have a Brazilian 7 string classical guitar. I have had it partially re-fretted, a new saddle and a new nut and it is set up at standard classical guitar specs. It has a strange buzz, but it doesn't sound like fret buzz, it sounds like it could be coming from the bridge/saddle. The saddle is quite flat on top and angled forward a few degrees. Do you think it could be the saddle shape? It did not do this before this work. Thank you.
There are different reasons why you can have buzzes and there is a good chance it might be because of the saddle. The top of the saddle shouldn’t be flat it should have a slope down towards the tie block. If you follow the instructions on the video you might be able to sort it out.
Pablo, when establishing the height of the straight edge above the 12th fret, is it possible to leave the nut in place, bearing in mind your answer to a previous question that height at the nut should be that of the first fret, not necessarily 1mm? Also, is the lower action on Flamenco guitars to aid playing technique or for tone?
K S te, you can use the 1st fret to work out the hight of the strings. The lower action on flamenco guitars is needed for both technique and tone. Just in case you are interested I recently launched a course that you can find on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
Hello Able. Is the idea to have the 1 mm piece of wood placed at the nut the same height as the fret? For instance, if my frets were 1.5 mm high, then I would place a 1.5 mm piece at the nut position to begin the measurements for the saddle? Hope this is understandable.
Sorry, I meant Pablo. Thanks Pablo. I really appreciate what you do and how you have helped me. Because of you I have much more confidence in building my guitars.
It depends, if your saddle is made of nylon then yes, sooner or later you will have to have a new saddle fitted and this will be very obvious as the strings will with time cut into it. If your saddle is made of bone or another material of similar hardness then you will find that usually your saddle doesn’t need to be replaced but it might need some adjustments as time passes. This and every aspect of guitar making you can find in my course videos on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
I know you didn't speak about intonation, but I thought I could ask. I just bought a new Prudencio Saez, and the distance from the nut to the middle of the 12th fret is 325mm, and the distance from the 12th to the saddle is 326.5mm. The strings are slightly sharp when I check the intonation at the 12th fret. What should I do?
Hi, You need to lengthen the strings that are out. You can do a little notch in the saddle so that the string rests on the saddle a little further than the rest of the strings. This is assuming that the shape of the saddle has the highest edge towards the sound hole of the guitar. That way you can get 0.5 or even 1 mm extra length on the string. But if the saddle has already been compensated you might not be able to fix it without getting into major work. I hope this helps.
@@redkitekk Thank you so much, Pablo. The saddle has not been compensated yet, and the saddle does indeed have the highest edge on the side toward the soundhole. Should I maybe change the strings to see if that does anything before I attempt to compensate?
Hi Marcelo, the measurement is different because when I worked the fingerboard I removed more material from the base side of the fretboard as the first job need to have the setup I was looking for. You can see how I do this in a video on my Chanel about how to work the fingerboard. Also, just to make you aware that I have recently launched an online guitar making course that might interest you. You can find it on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.con
@@redkitekk Muchas gracias, una otra pregunta, what should be the distance in the NUT from the first string, I would like to keep your guidelines on the 12th fret at 4mm, but not sure what should be the distance on the nut on the first string, thank you in advance
@@mjrami This might be a little complicated to explain, I will try. Once you have made the nut and have the strings on, bring the strings up to pitch or near to pitch, then, for each string, press on the 3rd fret and look at the gap between the string and the top of the 1st fret. If the string is touching the 1st fret it means that the nut is too low, but if there is a big gap it means that you need to remove material from the bottom of the nut to bring it down. The gap you need to have is about 0.25 mm or so, but each guitar is individual so you need to try to get the strings as low as possible without having any buzzing. If you have done this and your guitar is buzzing on the open string then you need to raise the nut up accordingly. I hope this helps.
it is his problem if most all the viewers are Americans with a laptop computer. He can find an English speaker that is understandable or not make a video at all..
Pablo, I've just found your channel, It is superb, thank you for such clear instruction, It is wonderful to watch a craftsman at work, I will have a busy time watching the rest of your videos. I was going to lower the saddle on a guitar I have just bought, but after watching your video I now know it is set exactly right and I would have spoiled it! time spent in research is never wasted. Muchas gracias!
Thank you so much. This is a clear, well-explained, detailed process of shaping a classical or flamenco guitar saddle. I am doing a setup on my first classical guitar I've ever worked on, and it has no saddle, though I have bone blanks for just this kind of job. I am a self-taught amateur guitar "technician.". I have worked on my own guitars, as well as many friend's guitars, with proper setups and minor repairs. Presently, I buy inexpensive, used acoustics and get them back in great playing shape and then give them away to local kids and adults who want to learn guitar. I also box some of these acoustics and ship to Haiti, where our church supports a large, in-country ministry, and guitars, cases, strings, picks, everything, are given to individuals who can or want to play guitar at newly founded churches, but could never afford such an item. I love working on guitars and to help others have the chance to own a decent, very "playable" instrument. Videos, like the one you kindly took the time to record and post here, help me get good, great-playing guitars in the hands of beginners wherever I can afford place them. I am grateful to you for sharing your expertise in these videos.
jamasters62 thanks so much for your kind words, it is very encouraging.
It is great to hear about your passion to bless others with the guitars that you work on.
All the best!
Lovely comment (Don here from Hamilton NZ on my Wife's tablet-SUSAN) I do very similar, it's very satisfying,and Iv'e learned so much from my hobby, all these videos are helpful 😊😊😊
In case you don't have such tools, I'd just like to say that all you need is a single piece of 120-240 grit sand paper (both is better), and lay it on a table. Then you just hold the bone piece in your hand, and sand it first to height/width/curvature, then tilt it slightly to get the angle. If the saddle profile becomes very low you'll start to sand your finger-tips, so put the sand paper on the end of a table, and sand half+ at a time. I just made a nut and saddle this way, and it turned out very well.
And thats how i just did mine...after watching this..great lesson
Amazing, Pablo! It appears you did this video straight through with no edits. A mark of a true professional.
Been watching countless videos on this subject, and yours is my absolute favorite.
You helped me figure out the subtle but annoying sound I was getting from 2-3 strings due to the fact I wasn't sloping the back of saddle correctly.
I would also like to mention the tone of your voice is very relaxing, and made your explanations easy to follow.
I'm in the US, but I would definitely consider taking one of your guitar building courses if/when money/time allow.
Thanks so much!
Take care.
Stan
Stan Bailey thanks for your comments, I am very pleased you found it helpful.
Just in case you are interested I have just put together an online course. It is always better to come and do a course with me but in the meantime.. the info is on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
The best classical guitar resource on youtube! Cheers to you Pablo
This IS professional luthier work at its finest !!
so what if Englisg speakers cannot understand him ... He can get aqnother person to do the talking in plain English. This is not political correctness... it is about luthierie and speaking plain English for a Google-owned website.
@@DougHinVA¿why don’t you make efforts to learn other languages, then?.
Thank you Pablo for such detailed explanations of this step. I really appreciate your patience and precise working. I want to get started building my guitar but want to learn all I can before I start, and you are a great teacher.
You explain this very well, Pablo.
Thank you! I work with steel string guitars but a client wanted work on a classical, and you made it straightforward. Excellent!!!
A lovely, thorough, delicate and generous video. Thank you so much.
Got to love a true craftsman. Excellent !
A great video for non Luthiers too. The need for a new saddle will come our way some day and it is great to know it is a job we can all do...with a little patience, feel and touch.
I think your explanation and diagrams were spot-on. Thank you for taking the time to make an excellent tutorial on how to make a classical guitar nut. I definitely will go to your website!
Thanks
Www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
Double like! This is the best explanation and video guide in the whole youtube I found! Michael Thames has a good video about a saddle also, but this one is better.
Thank you so much!
I've been considering shaping a new saddle so I checked out this video. It was so well thought out and executed that I just cracked a bottle of wine and watched it as entertainment. Bravo!
Mark Aitken Guitar 😊😊
Hi Pablo, It was nice to find an instructional video the clear enough that explains how to make a good job for a classical guitar saddle. There is only a thing with the microphone you use when recording your video and it sound in a low level range so, I had to listen carefully to your video and don't miss any of your explanations .
Thank you for the video and for sharing your remarkable craftsmanship
Pablo: fantastic tutorial on how to set up the saddle. The details are amazing. Good job....
Paulo C Rosa thank you
I think most probable issues have been showed and said here. I missed one however.
The edges of the base of the bone should be given a few strikes on fine sandpaper
for a better fit. Wen the edges are too sharp it will not properly rest on the bottom of
the sleeve. But all in all I still dig these instruction video's and I'm really happy that
Mr. Requena is willing to share it with the guitar repairing community!
Thank you, teaching me changing saddle, ıt looks simple but is complicated, important is 4mm and 3mm, 14 degree
Thanks Pablo. Very good video. Nice camerawork too.
Excellent work & video! best wishes.
Thank you very much. Pablo. This comes right on time. I have to do this job this week.
Thank you for your excellent tutorial video much appreciated.
Yes, I've found it very helpful. Thank you.
Great job explaining the process. I learned some important information. Thank you.
Love the vice setup! I may steal that idea!
very good and clear tutorial on makung the safdle. l h followed the instructions and had my saddle done. Tq.
Fantastic tutorial Pablo. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise.
Archelo A thank you, I am very pleased you found it useful.
Just in case you are interested I have a series of tutorials on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
Thank you very much for the demonstration. ❤
Pablo!Thank you very much, I so appreciate for a clear , professional explanation about how to make proper saddle!
Thank you very much for the level of details.
Muchas gracias Pablo.
Pablo, that was excellent. Thank you. I am now going to fashion a nice new bone bridge for my Aria A554 Black Label. Thanx, craigonbass1.
What a FANTASTIC video! Thank you Sir.
Thank you! You do a VERY Good job explaining everything.
You’re a good teacher 👍🏻 thanks 🙏🏻
Hello, thank you so much for these wonderful videos!
Bonjour Pablo
Thanks so much for your reply. I have commented on many UTube videos but this is the very first time I have received any feedback. The main reason I appreciated your presentation was due to the accuracy and precisement as this very much fits in with my engineering background. I’m in dealing with your feedback I have to admit that I don’t understand the terminology Body Pitch so if you can spare me the time to broadly explain this I would appreciate it. Regarding the point of the saddle, it was originally curved towards the rear and the height was 5mm at 6th string 12th fret and slightly over 3mm at 1st. I made a new saddle exactly as you described in your video and adjusted it so that it measured 4mm at 12th fret and left the treble at 3mm. Unfortunately, this made matters worse and now all of the bass strings buzz when fretted though not when left open. There’s even a little buzzing on the treble strings though nothing to worry about. The buzzing on the bass strings is now really pronounced, particularly the 5th. I have other blanks so am happy to make another as I do enjoy doing this kind of work but need to have a basis to work to. I have found during my research that Ramirez guitars have a saddle height of 5.5mm and wondered if you thought this might prove worthwhile trying? But thinking about your calculation for determining the saddle height I wonder if it would create too much stress due to the increased height necessary to get extra height at the 12th fret?
I’m sorry this is quite long and don’t want to take up too much of your time but I really would appreciate your help. I live in France so I doubt if you could recommend a luthier to help me out.
Thanks in anticipation,
Leslie
Sent from my iPad
On 2 PabloJul 2020, at 12:14, TH-cam wrote:
TH-cam Logo
🌟 PabloRequena replied to Leslie Farrell's comment
How to make the saddle for a classical guitar
PabloRequena
Leslie Farrell just to let you know that a buzz like the one you described is probably nothing to do with the saddle. Specially if you set up a high action and the problem didn’t go. To me this could be one or a combination of these three things. 1st, check the body pitch of your guitar, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is A in which case there isn’t a lot that you can do. 2nd, check the top profile of your current saddle, you should have a slope going down from the front of the saddle towards the tie block, if you have a half round shape you could have problems, I explain this in the video. 3rd: if the previous 2 options are not the problem then you need to look at the nut, but this I would leave for an experienced guitar maker. If you let me know where about you are I might be able to recommend someone. Good luck with this.
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The body pitch of a guitar is the main note that the body of the guitar will produce naturally. To work out what this note is there are different ways, the more accurate one is to hold the guitar and hum into the sound hole scale until you find the note that will cause a vibration in the instrument that you will feel in your hands very strongly, when you find that note, hum it into an electronic tuner and this will give you the note. Ideally you want to have F sharp, very often if you have an A or a note near enough to A you can have problems similar to the ones you are having.
Sorry I can't help you more, This is all a bit too much to try to explain in a message because there are quite a few variables involved to be able to pinpoint exactly where the problem with your guitar is. Ideally it would need to be seen in order to test a few options, that's why I was suggesting to visit a luthier, if you look online I am sure you would be able to find someone near you.
Thanks Pablo
I’m not too musical but tried your suggestion and found that the note producing the most vibration was A3 so it looks as though you’re right. I do intend to take it to a luthier to see if he can at least reduce the amount of buzz. Thanks again for your time and patience.
Leslie
Thank you Sir, so helpfull to me. Sorting a cheap Ehay buy that now sounds beyond my dreams. VinXXXX
Thank you. This is just what I needed.
Thank you Pablo :) ॐ
Great video
Fantastic
Thank you Pablo, a very interesting and informative video! I have spent many hours with sandpaper and a set of small hobby files, shaping and customising saddles for my guitars. I was very interested to hear that you don't need any compensation for intonation on your instruments - is has been my experience that all of my guitars need some adjustment at the saddle to play in tune, especially the third G string. Admittedly I'm playing factory produced guitars, Katoh/Cordoba etc, and not your hand made instruments! I have found some saddles on Ebay which are compensated differently for each string - the break point on the saddle for each is as follows: Low E, A, high E break points are all at the front of saddle, (closest to soundhole) D and B break point is around the middle of the saddle, and the troublesome G break point is set as far back towards the tie block as possible. I have shaped bone saddles to this "general formula" and found the intonation to be very accurate. I use Savarez 520R strings only, and this works very well. I have read that some luthiers compensate the nut as well as the saddle - do you do anything special at the nut on your instruments? I realise that string height as well as the amount of pressure applied by the fretting hand also can affect the intonation, so it's hard to have a general rule.
Hi Andrew, as you say, it is hard to have a general rule as each guitar is individual. I can see why your system would work for your instruments but in my experience I would say that most high end guitars don’t need so much compensation, perhaps a little adjustment to the G string. Thanks for you comment anyway.
Thank you for your clear and concise instructions. I have immediately subbed to learn more.
keep on the great work
Very, very useful, thank you so much, Pablo!
Welcome! its a pleasure.
Thank you so much for an excellent description and method of forming a bone saddle. I have an Esteve Ltd guitar which has had an annoying buzz on the 5th string since new and the dealer has never been able to fix it even with the action at the base side at 5.5mm. I am now going to try your method in making a new saddle and hopefully this may eliminate this annoying buzz.
Leslie Farrell just to let you know that a buzz like the one you described is probably nothing to do with the saddle. Specially if you set up a high action and the problem didn’t go. To me this could be one or a combination of these three things.
1st, check the body pitch of your guitar, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is A in which case there isn’t a lot that you can do.
2nd, check the top profile of your current saddle, you should have a slope going down from the front of the saddle towards the tie block, if you have a half round shape you could have problems, I explain this in the video.
3rd: if the previous 2 options are not the problem then you need to look at the nut, but this I would leave for an experienced guitar maker. If you let me know where about you are I might be able to recommend someone.
Good luck with this.
muito bom sempre se aprende algo com voce
not understandable to an English speaker on an English spoken computer channel when it is in another language.
Good explication Pablo , Gracias!
De nada Alex!!
thank you Pablo well done great info
Excuse me sir, how about the original height of both nut and saddle before adjustment ?
Very good , Thank you .
Who is your patient camera person?
That would be my wife… and yes she is very patient…. With me!
Thank you, Pablo! You answered every question (and questions I didn't know that I had) I had about shaping a saddle. Really well done.
I heard that some luthiers string the guitar up to full tension with the unfinished saddle and than wait 7~10 days before finally adjusting it to perfection !
Hi Pablo,
I have just come across your videos and find them fascinating. Your work and teaching is amazing.
It is not important but I would like to know why you have English power socket system?
Maybe one year I can find the time to take one of your classes.👍🏻
Kind regards,
Paul.
Hi Paul, thanks for your comments, I used to live in the UK, in Sussex and many of my videos were done in my workshop there.
Just in case you are interested I have a course where I explain in detail how to make your own guitar, you can find it on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
At the start when you use the straight edge to find the distance at the 12th fret, is that a formula where you multiply x2? It's always just a matter of multiplying x2?
Great video and very helpful.
Thank you.
Dear Pablo
Thanks so much for another one of your very clear and most excellent videos!
One question. If one was making a 650mm scale length guitar (for instance) would the 'break over' point on the saddle measure precisely that same 650mm from the nut edge?
Cheers and thanks!
Cath
No, you will have to compensate for the enharmonisity of the string. So the thicker the string is the more it has to be compensated. This will wary with different types of strings and of course I'm not an expert but for my last guitar I made the 6th string 652.5mm long and the 1st string 651,5mm. With the DAddario EJ45 medium this seems to give pretty good results...
Hi Catherine, I ad 1,5 mm to the scale length, so for a 650 guitar, the distance from the nut to the front edge of the saddle would be 651,5 mm.
Is that what you where asking?
Pablo
Thanks Thibault
it is indeed. Thanks Pablo!
Dear Maestro,
your saddle construction is a final function of fingerboard setup, as exhaustively illustrated in an other video, and the bridge design. I learned your bridge is 8 mm high, so it could be the completed saddle protrudes over the saddle slot not too much, I suppose 3 mm at the bases and 2 at trebles for a total bridge height mm11/10 that, if I'm not wrong, you consider the right height. Just a question about the bridge design:
the saddle slot depth how affect the sound trasmission or in other words what you consider the right thickness of the base slot to the soundboard?
Thank you very much again for your precious videos!
costantino proietti the depth for the saddle slot is 4 mm, this is deep enough for the saddle to be well fitted into the bridge. I hope this what you need.
@@redkitekk Oh yes. Thank you.
Very grateful. Thank you!
You are such an exceptional teacher, thank you. I had my classical in a shop this week for work on a new saddle but not very pleased, thanks Pablo for your video I think I will make my own now. Oh and one question, the action on my guitar is too high, how close can my saddle be to the bridge without any problems with my strings buzzing?
To set up the action you need to measure it at the 12th fret, from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string, for a classical guitar you usually need 4 mm at the 6th string and 3 mm at the 1rst. The hight of the saddle depends on the angle of the neck, hopefully once you have the right action you would have about 2 mm of bone sticking out of the saddle slot on the bridge. I hope this makes sense.
@@redkitekk Yes it does and thank you for your quick response
Great video Pablo-as always !!. Is there a video on how to make a nut? Cheers Paul
Hi Paul, i don’t have one on TH-cam but if you visit my website www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com chapter 26 covers that topic. Thank you
really good stuff. Thank you
Hi Pablo. Super video. Could you tell me where to buy quality saddle blank from in the UK? Thx.
Hi Nicholas I would try www.luthierssupplies.co.uk
Great video as usual. For the saddle placement, do you use the full scale length plus roughly 1 mm for compensation? Or do you locate the saddle by moving the bridge around pre finish until you hit the right notes?
Dassouki Photography yes, position the bridge at scale+1.5mm and cover the area where the bridge would go with masking tape so that the polish doesn’t get to it.
Thank you!
1981 i bought a flamenco guitar from Lopez Bellido in Granada. The saddle has been lowered af few times and now the crowne is less than ½mm above the bridge! Reminds me of Venecia - when will it go under?
I know, this is a common problem with flamenco guitars.
If your guitar is loosing tone because of the low brake angle of the strings you could do a 12 holes conversion. I have a video about it in my TH-cam channel.
If what you want is to have a bit more high on the saddle then you will need to do some work on the fingerboard.
@@redkitekk Thank you. Now I´ve seen the video on 12 holes, and I might give it at go. But in this case the bridge itself has been levered, leaving the slot only 2mm deep, so I wonder if it´s also a good idea to carve out the bottom of the slot, fx. an additional 1 - 1.2mm - if possible - and what tool would you use?
@@sorenutube yes, you could deepen the slot but you would need to do it evenly along the length. You can do this with a miniature hand router, Veritas does one that could do the job.
@@redkitekk Thank´s again Pablo. Just what I needed to hear. Your recomandations are very helpfull - and inspiring - as are you videos:) Greetings from Denmark.
Pablo, I just came across this video and its wonderful to see such a step by step course in a 1/2 hr clip,...Awesome! Thanks You. I do have 1 question for you; You mentioned toward the end of this clip that there is no need to "compensate" your saddles due to that your guitars have very good/great intonation. I'm curious how you approach intonation during the design stage. By my experience with my own relatively inexpensive classical and reading/hearing many online clips, the 3rd and many times 2nd string as well will always have some intonation issue due to the inherit design of the guitar itself. Do you find that to be a false-statement or possibly not fully informed comment? thanks again.
Hi,
Yes, Sometimes extra compensation is needed on the third sting, but it is quite a big subject to be able to explain here in just a few lines.
@@redkitekk Yes, I understand, its a lengthy topic for sure. Thanks for the reply. I'll keep watching. cheers.
faaantastic!!! what brand of bone nut and saddle for a classical guitar you use?
I get the bone from 2 places:
www.madinter.com
www.smallwonder-music.co.uk/shop/
Another excellent video with some “trade secrets” thank you. What finish do you use on your guitars please?
I use French Polish, blond shellac without wax.
I have 2.5 years old Takamine H8SS. Great guitar but curious if I need to lower its action. The setup is currently from the factory in Japan. I have a bone saddle blank bought from Takamine, if I were to have this done. My current setup is about 4mm at the 12th fret of the 6th string (from top of fret to bottom of string) and about ~1mm at the first fret, with a ~2mm bone saddle height above the bridge itself. The 1st string at the 12 fret is about 3mm. The truss seems ok, no string buzzes and the truss isn’t vibrating. Would you recommend adjustments, or leave well enough alone?
I know this topic is discussed over and over, but I’m not that expert on these matters.
Thanks, Richard Thornton
Hi Richard. The action you have described is quite standard and you should be ok with it. If there is no buzzing and the action is confortable to you I would leave as it is.
Hi Pablo,
For compensation is it the scale length plus 1.5mm to the front of the saddle slot or center of the saddle? Thanks
To the front of the slot.
Hi Pablo,
I have a few questions. Firstly what kind of saw did u use to cut the saddle or should I say what was cutting edge. Saw teeth or a file. Very fine? Secondly the slot in my guitar is thinner than the bone saddle I bought by some margin. Is it just sanding to make it thinner or perhaps widen slot in the bridge. Finally when u fit the strings do u need to make slots in the saddle to stop them from moving? If so how do I u do that accurately? Different for each string? Sounds like I need to go on a course. Gracias from Englaterra.
Hi, the saw I use to cut the bone for the saddle is a jewellery saw, but any fine saw would work.
To fit the bone to the slot in the bridge you need to sand down the bone unlit it fits in the slot, you don't want to push the bone into the slot for it to fit but the bone mustn't fall of the slot either if you were to turn the guitar over.
You don't need to cut slots in the saddle for the strings to find the right position, they will do that by themselves.
Of course if you join one of my courses you will find that it is a lot easier tho learn all these thing. If you are interested in joining one of my courses here in Spain you can find all about it on www.guitarmakingcourse.org or alternatively a have a course you can purchase on line if you go to www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
@@redkitekk Gracias Pablo. Tengo a tocar manana a una fiesta. Tengo constructor nuevo bridge hoy. Gracias por su rapido palabras. Estudie espanol en me escuela, hace cincuento anos. Lo olbido mucho de los palabras y la gramatica pero me gusto hablo donde es possible. Buenas dias.
So looking at your saddle that you have the highest point at the leading edge, what do you do in the instance where you have to set/change the intonation on the saddle?
All you need to do is to make a notch back on the saddle in the area where the string is resting. That way you will lengthen the string.
Hi Pablo, I have a Brazilian 7 string classical guitar. I have had it partially re-fretted, a new saddle and a new nut and it is set up at standard classical guitar specs. It has a strange buzz, but it doesn't sound like fret buzz, it sounds like it could be coming from the bridge/saddle. The saddle is quite flat on top and angled forward a few degrees. Do you think it could be the saddle shape? It did not do this before this work. Thank you.
There are different reasons why you can have buzzes and there is a good chance it might be because of the saddle. The top of the saddle shouldn’t be flat it should have a slope down towards the tie block. If you follow the instructions on the video you might be able to sort it out.
@@redkitekk Thank you Pablo. My friend who has built guitars will help me, with your instructions. Thanks for replying.
Pablo, when establishing the height of the straight edge above the 12th fret, is it possible to leave the nut in place, bearing in mind your answer to a previous question that height at the nut should be that of the first fret, not necessarily 1mm? Also, is the lower action on Flamenco guitars to aid playing technique or for tone?
K S te, you can use the 1st fret to work out the hight of the strings. The lower action on flamenco guitars is needed for both technique and tone.
Just in case you are interested I recently launched a course that you can find on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
@@redkitekk Thank you so much, Pablo, and for the link to your course. K
Hello Pablo, which is the wire height at first freet? Is it 1 mm or 1.5 mm?
1mm
Thank you.
Great! Thank you!
Is it practical to set it 3.5 on the E bass and 2.5 on the treble?
Yes, of course, the lower the better as long as the strings don’t touch the frets, otherwise you will loose clarity in the tone.
Hello
Able. Is the idea to have the 1 mm piece of wood placed at the nut the same height as the fret? For instance, if my frets were 1.5 mm high, then I would place a 1.5 mm piece at the nut position to begin the measurements for the saddle? Hope this is understandable.
Yes, that's right.
Sorry, I meant Pablo. Thanks Pablo. I really appreciate what you do and how you have helped me. Because of you I have much more confidence in building my guitars.
You are very welcome, I am very pleased you find the videos helpful.
Hi i have question how often you should change your classic guitar saddle? Do they even wearout?
It depends, if your saddle is made of nylon then yes, sooner or later you will have to have a new saddle fitted and this will be very obvious as the strings will with time cut into it. If your saddle is made of bone or another material of similar hardness then you will find that usually your saddle doesn’t need to be replaced but it might need some adjustments as time passes.
This and every aspect of guitar making you can find in my course videos on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.com
@@redkitekk Thanks alot mine is from bone and my brand new guitar came with an extra saddle. Thats why i asked.
I know you didn't speak about intonation, but I thought I could ask. I just bought a new Prudencio Saez, and the distance from the nut to the middle of the 12th fret is 325mm, and the distance from the 12th to the saddle is 326.5mm. The strings are slightly sharp when I check the intonation at the 12th fret. What should I do?
Hi, You need to lengthen the strings that are out. You can do a little notch in the saddle so that the string rests on the saddle a little further than the rest of the strings. This is assuming that the shape of the saddle has the highest edge towards the sound hole of the guitar. That way you can get 0.5 or even 1 mm extra length on the string. But if the saddle has already been compensated you might not be able to fix it without getting into major work.
I hope this helps.
@@redkitekk Thank you so much, Pablo. The saddle has not been compensated yet, and the saddle does indeed have the highest edge on the side toward the soundhole. Should I maybe change the strings to see if that does anything before I attempt to compensate?
Yes, some times a bad set of string can give you problems with the intention.
What kind of saw blade is on the hand saw?
Hi, it is just a regular all propose blade.
Hey Pablo, I wrote on another video. I wonder how many millimeters thick is your bridge? Hope you are doing ok.
Hi Owen, for a flamenco guitar the thickness of the bridge is 7 mm, and for a classical it is 8 mm high.
Thankyou Pablo.
shouldn't you have the same measure for treble and base since you really haven't done anything to the sattle? I'm confuse, Marcelo
Hi Marcelo, the measurement is different because when I worked the fingerboard I removed more material from the base side of the fretboard as the first job need to have the setup I was looking for.
You can see how I do this in a video on my Chanel about how to work the fingerboard. Also, just to make you aware that I have recently launched an online guitar making course that might interest you. You can find it on www.onlineguitarmakingcourse.con
@@redkitekk Muchas gracias, una otra pregunta, what should be the distance in the NUT from the first string, I would like to keep your guidelines on the 12th fret at 4mm, but not sure what should be the distance on the nut on the first string, thank you in advance
@@mjrami This might be a little complicated to explain, I will try.
Once you have made the nut and have the strings on, bring the strings up to pitch or near to pitch, then, for each string, press on the 3rd fret and look at the gap between the string and the top of the 1st fret. If the string is touching the 1st fret it means that the nut is too low, but if there is a big gap it means that you need to remove material from the bottom of the nut to bring it down. The gap you need to have is about 0.25 mm or so, but each guitar is individual so you need to try to get the strings as low as possible without having any buzzing. If you have done this and your guitar is buzzing on the open string then you need to raise the nut up accordingly.
I hope this helps.
@@redkitekk mochas gracias Maestro, que pena que usted esta muy lejos
👍🏼
too much detail and accent for an American audience
Doug H. in VA
That's not his problem.................
Y’all
How many languages do YOU speak?
I think somebody assumes ALL Americans are idiots. No, just the lazy ones.
it is his problem if most all the viewers are Americans with a laptop computer. He can find an English speaker that is understandable or not make a video at all..