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I've been buying compensated bone saddles for my guitars. Not really ready to start intoning them myself. Any way the first few that I bought had the two forward/reverse flat areas at the treble end leaving the rest of the saddle with a slightly tilted edge for the bass side. Well the last two I bought just recently the compensated parts are in reverse. Will this work or is someone selling me saddles for lefty's?

Here's a pic of what I was sent.

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Can't really make out the slope on the bass side.
This is what I'm used to seeing on a ready made one for a right handed player.

And reversed as below for a leftie.

Anything different could be questionable...

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Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

You definitely have a lefty saddle.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Hmmm. On my screen the one in your hand looks like a standard righty, with the treble side pointing down and the B with the usual extra set-back.

Whatever, Colin's pictures are correct, so you should be able to make your own mind up, having a better view than us of the thing in your hand.

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Actually it is in fact a standard righty. I just woke up and am on vacation.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

There are two common (admittedly broad) forms of compensation for pre-made saddles. One style sets beck only the B string, with all the rest left toward the front. This is what you have there, and they can work fine on bridges with a slightly greater angle to the slot itself where the increased lower string compensation is brought by the position of the saddle rather than it's shape. The second category compensates the B string, leaving the high E, then the G and D near the front, then stepping back incrementally on the low A and E strings. These can be preferred on bridges with shallower slot angles, where the increased saddle compensation is built more in to the shape of the saddle and less on it's position.

Both can be acceptable approximations, sometimes quite good, but both still generic approximations. I personally prefer something in between, where the furthest forward break points are no closer than .020"-.030" to the front, so that the break point can still have some support in front of it rather than a sharp and fragile drop off. Then the lower most strings typically benefit from a more dramatic increase in compensation than a straight G-E line can provide, but many of the pre-compensated saddles can exagerate this incremental increase a bit. Furthermore, many leave the fulcrum point just too far toward the back with too little surface area to distribute the string pressure across, leaving the saddle prone to chipping, denting, and potentially increasing risk of string breakage. I prefer at least .050"-.060" saddle surface in contact with the string (can't always achieve this on a 3/32" saddle) rolled smoothly between near the back angle to just shy of the string plane. Of course to do this requires an intentional and ideal saddle slot position, but most 1/8" slots will provide room for this.

In any case, that's indeed a right handed saddle you have. Whether it will work better or worse than the other style with the stepped back lower strings will depend largely on the position and angle of your slot.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

"I've been buying compensated bone saddles for my guitars. Not really ready to start intoning them myself."

If you have a cheap guitar tuner and a small file you might try it sometime. You file one side of the saddle or the other depending on whether the octave is sharp or flat relative to the open string (some prefer 1st fret to 13th fret). The nice thing about the saddle is it is easily replaced if you go too far.

Here's the thing. Buying a compensated saddle just doesn't make sense unless you're giving the maker of the saddle the specifications for correct intonation. It's my opinion that the saddle really needs to be made with the guitar in front of you. There are enough small considerations that generic compensated saddles, no matter how costly, are just a shot in the dark. If you're making or working on guitars it's one of the most basic jobs worth mastering. It's really not very hard. Start with an understanding of the basic rules, an accurate ruler, a radius gauge and a good file and you're practically there.

Is it just me or does it look like a plain old compensated righty? I think someone else here has made the same comment. Just rotate it CCW and it looks like the Collins photo

When I first set up a guitar I get the relief, nut and action close, but leave the top of the saddle flat. I then put a piece of wire (a B string works well) under each string and move it back and forth until the 12th fret and harmonic are as close to tune as I can get them. Mark the location of the wire on both sides with a sharp pencil and make that the break point for the string.

This even works on a 12 string - the saddle ends up looking like a rip saw blade but it will play more or less in tune all the way up the neck.