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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 3:05 pm 
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Koa
Koa

Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:36 am
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State: ON
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I just recently took delivery of my new neck angle jig from luthiertool.com. I'm just going through the process of setting it up and I have one question from the manual that I hope some of you other jig owners can help me with.

Under the Neck Angle Adjustment section there is a sentence that says. "Now you can add saddle height compensation." Can someone tell me what measurement saddle height compensation reefers to? I feel like I should know this is but I can't say I've ever run across that term before. Some clarification would be appreciated.

Thanks for the help - and I highly recommend Chris's jigs

Josh

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:30 am 
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Cocobolo
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Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 7:06 am
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Location: United States
Josh,

I don't have one of these, but here's my guess. I would think they are referring to setting a shim of some type on top of the bridge to set the top of the frets level with. This is usually around 1/16". This allows for string tension to pull the peghead end of the neck up and results in a saddle height of somewhere in the .125"-.140" range depending on how much the neck flexes. There are other variables (bridge thickness, top radius, etc.)

Again, just a guess, but I can't think of another explanation.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:11 pm 
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Koa
Koa

Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:36 am
Posts: 1595
State: ON
Country: Canada
Status: Professional
Thanks Jimmy,

Your input was helpful. I emailed Chris when I didn't get much response here, and he was nice enough to send me the following reply. I think is a good explanation of the factors that need to be considered when calculating neck angles so I'll post it for all to see.

"The term may be a bit confusing, this deals with the height of the saddle above the bridge ( the optimal string contact point of the saddle above the surface of the guitar top). When you set the neck angle in the beginning, you are projecting the neck top surface minus the finger board to where the saddle will be located on the guitar top. Lets call this the zero plane or the straight line from the top of the neck projected to the guitar top. This is then the reference plane where you can calculated the height of the saddle, keeping in mind to subtract the frets and finger board from the bridge height and allowing about 3/32" saddle height, this is what I call height compensation. However there are other factors to consider such as neck relief, string height for playability, saddle break angle and string tension deflection. They may be small but are enough to effect he height of the saddle. There should be some adjustability to consider in the saddle height due to temperature and humidity, so it's best to calculate the average height so that you have some room for adjustment without effecting the performance."

I had an idea that this is what was being referred to, but it is nice to have confirmation.

Again a big thanks and recommendation for Chris and his Jigs at luthiertool.com

Josh

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Canadian Luthier Supply
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House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
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