The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Yeah the saddle appears to have been shaved down, likely to compensate for the high action caused by the original neck problem?
The action appears to be very low which is great on a steel strung guitar but may not be optimum on this classical.

The good news is that a higher saddle will probably cure the buzzing problem. The old one should just pull out. (Do not use glue.)
The bad news is that you'll have of course, remove the strings that you've just put on! And you'll have to get comfortable with a higher action.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
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A second plus is the sound quality should get better and you could use lower tension strings without buzzing.

When you look at the pic you can see the side of the saddle itself. It sits in a slot and not a pocket. It is tight in there. If I get a new saddle I still have to get this one out. Iv'e tapped it and it doesn't readily move. I don't want to create any damage while getting the saddle out. Any tips there?

Take a very close look to make sure the thing has not been glued in there; since this has been removed in the past it just may have been glued back in. The usual approach to kill glue is to add heat. This works nicely on frets, using a soldering iron, but I dunno about on a saddle. If it's plastic it could be a nasty, if bone it could be stinky, so consider that a last resort.

Before attempting anything else it should respond to something like a a fret puller and a bit of elbow grease. Pulling up is the ideal motion. I think I'd avoid hitting it from the side, too much potential to accidentally split the bridge.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

Thanks Barry. Good points, I'll keep them in mind.

I worked on getting the saddle out. It was very tight in the slot and appears to have had a touch of glue added. I was trying to grab it to pull up but there was precious little of the saddle sticking up above the bridge to get ahold of. I scored along the edges with a thin razor blade knife and started to tap the ends with a punch. Once I detected movement I started to pry up by inserting a round toothpick into the slot under the saddle. All told it took about 20 minutes to free the saddle. No damage done.

I raised the saddle a full 2/32 with the expectation that I could always sand it back down if need be. I don't think I need to, yet. This has raised the action at the 12th fret by 2/64 giving me a string height of 8/64. I wll let it be and see how it reacts over the next couple of days. Also raising the saddle by this much has greatly increased the break angle over the saddle. I think the saddle height looks much better now.

A few weeks back I was thinking this guitar would never be playable but its actually slowly coming together.


Some pics.

Glad you could remove it without damaging anything. Kinda figured it might have been glued in.
The break angle certainly looks better, and as you may already know that angle is important in transmitting the string's energy to the bridge/soundboard.

Optimally though, now that you've determined the best height, I would replace the bridge with a new one sanded to the desired height. The shim is OK but the less interference between the source of the vibration and the sound board the better.

She's looking good, and remember...it's a Mats! The woods on this thing are first rate, and she will sing again if you're patient.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com