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I can't imagine the Saddlematic being inaccurate as long as the pins are correctly set. I remember setting the pins being a little tricky... I went to the rule when I did a fan-fret.

Saddlematic is just a tool and a good one IMO. It is plenty accurate as long as it is set up and used properly.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

They aren’t bent at a 90 which makes them tricky. Why SM... why do that?


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I use a caliper to set the pins. It's a bit fussy but not a big deal.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I ordered a 24"/600mm rule from the link James provided. It arrived today (really fast shipping). It is a Woodcraft rule for less than 1/2 the price of a new one and has a tiny scrape in the finish where it doesn't matter. Happy Camper!

Yeah, PEC blems are great deals. I own several squares, square blades and rules that are PEC blems.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Woody for my PEC blem collection.


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Mine came in today. Impressive for a length of metal ha


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the saddelmatic is not reliable use a good measuring tool
Had one never got good intonation from it now I do it this what. All you need is a scale ( term for accurate yardstick )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJG5Frbu78c&t=9s
there is a misconception that there is a perfect intonation when you first set up a guitar and the answer is NOOOOOO
Remember that the box will distort a bit. I learned to control the variables but each guitar is its own so build in some adjustability.
It depends on the style I am building but there are 2 variables you must decide to control. A how good did you prep the frets the higher that action you need to control buzzing the more sharp it will play B how much the top will rise and bridge will rotate. Here I set up for about a 2 cent flat on initial set up. In a few weeks the bridge will rotate and the saddle will fall into position. The higher up the neck the better the intonation will get.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I make my own bridges 99% of the time but I do slot them first. Have been using the same slotting jig I made almost 30 years ago. I don't even remember what instruction I used to build the jig but I think it may have been in the old LMI manual or something like that. But anyway seems like Martin and Gibson figured out the average saddle angle a long time ago and it's based on that. To find the location I simply measure from nut to 12th fret and then from the center 12th fret to the center saddle slot and add 3/32 or about .1in depending. With a 1/8th inch saddle it gives me enough room to fine tune the compensation and so far I've never had a customer complain, in fact most of them compliment on how well the guitar is intonation. I'm sure one day I will get the one with perfect pitch who needs a compensated nut and saddle but for most of us, even well accomplished musicians, it seems to work.

That’s pretty much what I do. I don’t even use a ruler, just a StewMac straightedge against the nut, Mark the middle of the 12th fret with a pencil then add about 0.12” and measure to the center of the 1/8” saddle slot in the midline. Good tip from John about letting it settle in before final intonation.

Also when setting the bridge centerline don’t forget to check the string lines for e and E as to inset from the fretboard at 1 and 12. The pin holes may not be perfectly centered on the bridge.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I just watched John's video and got to thinking...

What about for those who shorten the length of the FB by about the width of a saw kerf as they saw through the FB at the nut? You know that nut compensation trick to shorten the first fret length? Which invariable changes the over all system. So with a shortened board when you measure to the 12th fret it doesn't look like it's the scale length. Measuring from the nut to the saddle position would be off in that case.

Wouldn't that error be in the neighborhood of 0.012" (i.e., half of an average fret slot kerf)? It is not insignificant, but it is also not so much that you can't correct for it with saddle ramping.

Saddlematic is great. I can't understand how someone would say otherwise. For starters, when set up correctly it is a FIXED LENGTH. How well it works is directly related to how accurately you set it up. Once it is set up with whatever high accuracy measuring tool you wish to use, it tells you exactly where you are ... because ... its length is fixed to where you set the block and tangs.

A principal of engineering measurement covered here is to avoid it if at all possible. There are at least two sources of uncertainty in every scale length measurement (assuming the scale itself is accurate): uncertainty at the nut and uncertainty at the scale location. Another source of uncertainty - really, error - is when length is added to the measurement to index to the 1” or 10mm line.

The elegance of the Saddlematic is that there is no direct measurement in use - the scale length is doubled and the saddle compensation is added automatically. Like a story stick in construction, direct measurement is avoided and a ready visual reference is created which minimizes the ‘I can’t believe I did that!’ sort of mistakes.

Intonation errors with the Saddlematic are likely the result of inaccurate setting of the saddle face locator pins, inconsistent reference face on the 12th fret indexing block, or failure to use the front edge of the saddle slot as the reference point. We see accurate intonation using the jig, but then we are also knowledgeable with regard to the need to account for nut compensation and correct use of the tool (e.g., alignment with centerline, need to measure squarely from end of nut, etc.).

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We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)