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Topic: Buzzing & Tricone Saddles? |
Ryan Matzen
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 20 Jun 2022 11:34 am |
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I have found that I have an irritating sound that sounds when I played certain notes on my high A string (I am tuned A C# E A C# E). I swapped out my high A string for one of a slightly thicker gauge. This help quite a bit. So, I am assuming that there is an issue with the high A string saddle slot on my guitar. I busted out the Brozman National book to see if there was any information on saddles. There was, I’ll include it here:
Did I read/understand this wrong? Or, is what Bob stated wrong/backwards? I always thought (and the photos I’ll supply below of my saddle and other biscuits that I had on hand will show this (the biscuit pictured on the left is from a left handed guitar)) that the contact point should be near the front of the saddle (unless compensated) and then ramp down, and V out towards the saddle?
Last edited by Ryan Matzen on 27 Jun 2022 6:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jeff Highland
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 20 Jun 2022 1:47 pm
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Yeah ramp down to the tailpiece with the high point at the front of the saddle. Use proper nut slot files so you get a round bottom in the slot. Go to at least 3/4 of the string diameter depth, Ignore the warning about excessive depth, that is a misconception.
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone |
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Eric Dahlhoff
From:
Point Arena, California
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Posted 21 Jun 2022 9:01 am Re: Buzzing & Tricone Saddles?
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| Ryan Matzen wrote: |
Did I read/understand this wrong? Or, is what Bob stated wrong/backwards? I always thought (and the photos I’ll supply below of my saddle and other biscuits that I had on hand will show this (the biscuit pictured on the left is from a left handed guitar)) that the contact point should be near the front of the saddle (unless compensated) and then ramp down, and V out towards the saddle?
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Ryan,
I was also confused when I read that in Brozman's book. 
But he states it pretty clearly and unambiguously. I need to make a new saddle (not nut) for my 1929 tricone - a couple of the wound strings are worn deep in the slots. How to proceed? 
_________________
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)
Last edited by Eric Dahlhoff on 22 Jun 2022 7:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Ryan Matzen
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 21 Jun 2022 11:34 am Re: Buzzing & Tricone Saddles?
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| Eric Dahlhoff wrote: |
| Ryan Matzen wrote: |
Did I read/understand this wrong? Or, is what Bob stated wrong/backwards? I always thought (and the photos I’ll supply below of my saddle and other biscuits that I had on hand will show this (the biscuit pictured on the left is from a left handed guitar)) that the contact point should be near the front of the saddle (unless compensated) and then ramp down, and V out towards the saddle?
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Ryan,
I was also confused when I read that in Brozman's book.
But he states it pretty clearly and unambiguously. I need to make a new nut for my 1929 tricone - a couple of the wound strings are worn deep in the slots. How to proceed? |
Seems that Bob may have confused things. Or, maybe he just did things differently? The saddle and biscuits shown in the photos that I provided earlier are originals from National and National Resophonic. They clearly show the opposite of what Bob had stated. Also, the other guitars that I have owned all had the V opening towards the tailpiece.
I suppose you could make two different saddles to see if it makes any difference.
If you don’t have to make up a lot of height on your saddle, you may be able to get away with glueing a maple shim to the bottom of it. Or, I believe that you should still be be able to purchase a new saddle blank from Jason or Shanon at National Resophonic. You will most likely have to message them via their contact form:
https://www.nationalguitars.com/
I am not sure how hard it would be to remove your current saddle without wrecking it. They were originally pressed in. But, I have come across some that were glued down. Many guitars that I have had, came to me very dry. Thus, the saddles on these guitars were very dry and loose until I rehydrated them. After rehydrating them, I would press them back in. The saddle on my current Tricone arrived this way. Now that I have rehydrated it and pressed it back in, it doesn’t want to come back out. I recently tried moving it over a hair so that the strings would line up perfectly over my fretboard. But, I was unable to remove it. I figured that since it’s just an aesthetic issue, that I would wait for winter to arrive and try it again when it is less humid.
Does anyone have a good way to remove a pressed in saddle without mutilating it?
Last edited by Ryan Matzen on 21 Jun 2022 8:52 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Ryan Matzen
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 21 Jun 2022 11:37 am
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| Jeff Highland wrote: |
| Yeah ramp down to the tailpiece with the high point at the front of the saddle. Use proper nut slot files so you get a round bottom in the slot. Go to at least 3/4 of the string diameter depth, Ignore the warning about excessive depth, that is a misconception. |
I believe you may be correct about the excessive depth. It never seemed to be an issue for me.
I think my current problem most likely has to do with a lack of a high point and/or ramp. I believe that currently the string is in contact with too much of the saddle. I’ll have to take the guitar apart again and investigate further.
Last edited by Ryan Matzen on 21 Jun 2022 5:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jeff Highland
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 21 Jun 2022 1:15 pm
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Main problem I had with buzzing when I built my tricone was contact between the tailpiece and the coverplate. A bit of soft leather glued to the underside of the tailpiece fixed that.
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone |
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Ryan Matzen
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 21 Jun 2022 1:33 pm
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| Jeff Highland wrote: |
| Main problem I had with buzzing when I built my tricone was contact between the tailpiece and the coverplate. A bit of soft leather glued to the underside of the tailpiece fixed that. |
Did you use a nonstandard tailpiece and/or cover plate? If not, couldn’t you have just adjusted the tailpiece? I have run across Tricones that buzzed because the tailpiece touched the cover plate. The tailpieces on these guitars could be easily adjusted back to where they were no longer in contact with the cover plate. I could see adding a piece of felt to the front of the tailpiece of to a single cone guitar because that has a domed cover plate.
I am pretty sure my issue is with the string slot. It sounds like it anyway. My tailpiece doesn’t touch the cover plate. |
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Eric Dahlhoff
From:
Point Arena, California
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Posted 25 Jun 2022 2:48 pm worn saddle
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I thought I'd post of pic of the worn saddle in my 1929 tricone. It actually sounds surprisingly good, but there are certain notes that sound fuzzy. 
I have not yet tried to take the saddle out of the bridge. I like Ryan's suggestion about low humidity.
_________________
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan) |
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