Neck radius and saddle radius.

Eblis

Eblis

New member
Alright, I have a neck on the way with a 9.5" radius and I wanted to use this bridge.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges...n-trem_bridges/Hipshot_Baby_Grand_Bridge.html

I overlooked the fact that the Hipshot Baby Grand bridge has a saddle radius of 11.5". I thought the saddles were individually adjustable in height.

Can I still use the Hipshot Baby Grand bridge with that difference in neck to saddle radius? Or should I just go for something completely adjustable like this?

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges...non-trem_bridges/Hipshot_Hardtail_Bridge.html

Thanks,
Jason
 
Re: Neck radius and saddle radius.

I honestly have no idea Jason.

What I DO know is that it's desireable to have the same radius for everything.
 
Re: Neck radius and saddle radius.

I'm not familiar with those bridges, but they look kinda neat. As far as radius, it appears it is similar to a tune-o-matic, so you might be able to file down the outer saddles to change it to a 9.5" radius.
 
Re: Neck radius and saddle radius.

It's ideal to have the radii match, but like Chad said, you can make the string notches on the outside saddles a little deeper to compensate.

If you do decide to go fully adjustable, I have one of those Hipshot hardtails and I love it.
 
Re: Neck radius and saddle radius.

There are a lot of variables here, and much can depend on how the frets are dressed. In theory, if you aim to maintain a string radius constant to the board at every point, you can never have exactly the same radius on any more than 2 points along the fingerboard or bridge. In theory...

In practice, few guitars every meet that theoretical ideal, and players can get by just fine. There is a bit of wiggle room, and often times the radius of the saddles on an ideal setup can end up slightly flatter than than the board (flatter yet if we're talking about a compound radius board of course), or actually not lining up with a perfect radius at all.

Though you must certainly consider a string's height relative to its immediate neighbors, ultimately each string must be set up to the fret surface immediately below it. The amount of increase in height as you move from the treble to the bass is not by necessity a linear change either, which is part of the reason you should not expect that saddle heights must end up at any perfect radius at all.

If you use a bridge with fully adjustable saddles, this is easy enough to accommodate. If you use one with Tune-O-Matic style saddles, they need to be filed to set individual string heights in the end anyway, regardless of how well the radius may match the board on paper. So long as you keep this in mind, an 11.5" bridge will work fine for a 9.5" radius board after some minor fine tuning, which a 9.5" would need just as much.
 
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Re: Neck radius and saddle radius.

David Collins said:
There are a lot of variables here, and much can depend on how the frets are dressed. In theory, if you aim to maintain a string radius constant to the board at every point, you can never have exactly the same radius on any more than 2 points along the fingerboard or bridge. In theory...

In practice, few guitars every meet that theoretical ideal, and players can get by just fine. There is a bit of wiggle room, and often times the radius of the saddles on an ideal setup can end up slightly flatter than than the board (flatter yet if we're talking about a compound radius board of course), or actually not lining up with a perfect radius at all.

Though you must certainly consider a string's height relative to its immediate neighbors, ultimately each string must be set up to the fret surface immediately below it. The amount of increase in height as you move from the treble to the bass is not by necessity a linear change either, which is part of the reason you should not expect that saddle heights must end up at any perfect radius at all.

If you use a bridge with fully adjustable saddles, this is easy enough to accommodate. If you use one with Tune-O-Matic style saddles, they need to be filed to set individual string heights in the end anyway, regardless of how well the radius may match the board on paper. So long as you keep this in mind, an 11.5" bridge will work fine for a 9.5" radius board after some minor fine tuning, which a 9.5" would need just as much.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the replies fellas.

David, I had a feeling that some adjustment would be needed. I just was not sure if the difference was too large to compensate for it.

Jason
 
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