Strat Saddles - Bent steel? Block? Tusq?

PixelPusher21

PixelPusher21

Inspired
So.... I stripped a saddle height screw and looking for a replacement sent me down a rabbit hole wondering if I should get new saddles. I have a 2013 American Standard. It has the 2.16 bridge with bent steel saddles. I get a sound I do not like on the g string.. a strange harmonic which is really bad on some amps, like the Marshalls in the FM3, that I have been chasing down and right now I assume it is the saddle which is why I was trying to adjust it. I do not need to replace these saddles, but in searching for the grub screw all these saddles keep coming up. I really like the idea of the Highwood Contoured Vintage saddles. I get to keep the bent steel look but I get a groove and more mass like a block saddle and tamer highs. The Graphtech Tusq saddles look interesting as well as the sting savers. This forum has a lot of experience with both Strats and using a ton of different amps with them so I am hoping for a lot of opinions on strat saddles. Do I keep the ones I have? or do I try the Highwoods? or do I try a block saddle like the Tusq? Breaking strings is not an issue, I have never broken one at the saddle, yet.. I just want it to sound good on more amps in the FM3 and FM9 with less fuss.
 
The GraphTech StringSaver saddles should tame highs but obviously they're block saddles, not rolled. I have them on my American Professional II and I haven't had issues with tone - the guitar is pretty bright so losing too much highs isn't an issue.
 
I have Strats with bent saddle and strats with block saddles. Sometimes I do scrape, even cut my hand -rarely though.
I have thought about changing them but then said, they sound good, so I leave them.
 
I use bent steel saddles. Raw Vintage and Callaham both are my favorites. Previously I was using Fender Deluxe saddles but got tired of how they’d develop channels and then the strings would stick. The bent steel seem to stand up better, and have a more old-school sound, more acoustic or perhaps resonate.
 
I like Highwoods over stock bent steel. Not sure they have much of a tone differences but a better design for sharp edges on the grub scews and I like the string grove provided. On a bright guitar I have used string savers classics. I think I can hear a more even tone. I like the feel of the block style over bent steel. You can give them a try and return them if not satisfied.
 
Tusq is still bright . From light to dark;
Callahan/Gotoh ,Highwood, Tusq, Fender usa Vintage reissuse . Fender Am Pro . Raw Vintage. Actual Vintage. solid brass. block steel , sintered block steel. Zinc .
 
I use Raw Vintage bent steel saddles on all my strats. I was struggling for two decades with the original Fender saddles (I must have bought half a dozen sets of these) as they would rust and/or develop channels, break my strings etc.

I started using the Raw Vintage ones back in 2007 and I never went back. The three sets I bought back then for my three strats are still in excellent condition.

I've never tried any block saddles although I will at some point, just one for the thin E string to check if there will be any change in the sound etc if I ever find a couple of 10.8mm steel ones.

Not a fan of the Graphtech ones, tried them once (when I was struggling with the Fenders), not for me and the same goes for their nuts (on my guitars, I dig them on bass). I do like and use the Graphtech string trees on all my strats though but generally speaking string trees don't affect the sound too much or at all...
 
I do believe that the saddle makes a noticeable difference in tonality. I have two guitars that are very similar specification wise but one has a Gotoh 510 with solid saddles and the other has the Gotoh 510 with bent saddles. The solid saddle guitar is brighter and a bit more focused / punchy sounding whereas the one with bent saddles has a sweeter top end and is more vintage sounding. Both are great.
 
OrganicZed said:
I do believe that the saddle makes a noticeable difference in tonality. I have two guitars that are very similar specification wise but one has a Gotoh 510 with solid saddles and the other has the Gotoh 510 with bent saddles. The solid saddle guitar is brighter and a bit more focused / punchy sounding whereas the one with bent saddles has a sweeter top end and is more vintage sounding. Both are great.
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I disagree on which is the brighter but I agree on the saddle being a big part of the tone. Eric Johnson used to put a brass saddle on to mellow out the hight E then he swapped to a steel one. This is how I hear it too.
 
Jupiter said:
I use Raw Vintage bent steel saddles on all my strats. I was struggling for two decades with the original Fender saddles (I must have bought half a dozen sets of these) as they would rust and/or develop channels, break my strings etc.

I started using the Raw Vintage ones back in 2007 and I never went back. The three sets I bought back then for my three strats are still in excellent condition.

I've never tried any block saddles although I will at some point, just one for the thin E string to check if there will be any change in the sound etc if I ever find a couple of 10.8mm steel ones.

Not a fan of the Graphtech ones, tried them once (when I was struggling with the Fenders), not for me and the same goes for their nuts (on my guitars, I dig them on bass). I do like and use the Graphtech string trees on all my strats though but generally speaking string trees don't affect the sound too much or at all...
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Raw Vintage are very nice tone but they are soft (just like original ones) and I often get them back to smooth out the grooves cut by the strings.
Apart from real vintage saddles these are my favourite for a traditional strat tone.
 
Try some different saddles, and let your ear decide. As guitar parts go, saddles aren’t too expensive and you might find a superior match for your guitar.
 
Andy Eagle said:
I disagree on which is the brighter but I agree on the saddle being a big part of the tone. Eric Johnson used to put a brass saddle on to mellow out the hight E then he swapped to a steel one. This is how I hear it too.
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My experience is only based on those two particular guitars which, while similar, do have different pickups which is also undoubtedly a component of the tonal difference. I know you see a lot of instruments so I will defer to your observations for generalized trends.
 
Andy Eagle said:
I disagree on which is the brighter but I agree on the saddle being a big part of the tone. Eric Johnson used to put a brass saddle on to mellow out the hight E then he swapped to a steel one. This is how I hear it too.
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I know this is how John Suhr hears them as well. I have a few Suhr guitars and one of them is a classic pro (a better strat) that he uses the bent steel style saddles on. He says that he uses them on this model because they provide more top end and that is what he was going for on that model. I have a couple of custom builts by him that use chrome over brass block saddles. Those provide a more mellow top end, which is what he wanted for those models.
 
Ton of great replies so far.. Thank you... My new grub screws get here tomorrow.. My Strat is set up perfectly in that I do not have any issues with my grub screws doing double duty as a palm grater. However that means I adjusted the G string saddle too high and the screw came out.. I stripped it trying to get it back in the saddle again (not the threads, the hex). I ordered a few 3/8th in grub screws for that saddle (swapping them all for stainless steel ones) since being that close to the end of the threads was probably what caused my weird harmonics.. Too much vibration under the saddle by a grub screw not completely seated. My basic summary so far which is from my own research and backed up by everyone here, so far, is:

Bent steel..
I love them.. From what I read, heard.. the Highwoods have a little effect on tone, probably because they are notched (sizzle may be coming from harmonics of a string laying across a flat surface), you keep everything but a little of the top end sizzle is smoothed out but not gone.. something about a 2k spike being tamed. Callaham's are the hardest, and the brightest, Raw Vintage are loved by many but may be a little soft and I have not found them at the right size for my american standard, feel free to provide a link if you know of one.. 2 1/6th inch spread 10.50mm saddle.. Highwoods claim they are true vintage spec.. same hardness steel, same chrome plating directly onto the steel. I am leaning towards the HIghwoods.. have them in a cart at the moment. They just seem very trouble free and they are OEM on many fine guitars. I will not have to compromise grub screw stability for comfort on them as having a fully seated screw will never be a compromise for having part of one sticking out.​

All of these seem to lose the top end sizzle to some degree

Steel Blocks..
Better tone fundamentals - more rounded bell like highs, Top end sizzle is gone so pickups and EQ have more to do if you want do dial some of that back in.​

Graphtech Blocks -
Tusq - Not many people seem to use these, but those that do seem to love them. Kenny Wayne Shepherd certainly is not losing any tone with them. You get to keep even more brightness than standard steel blocks while also getting better tone fundamentals - these are on my list as they seem very durable and you get all the benefits of blocks and string savers but you also keep some of the top end you lose when you stray from bent steel, though you still lose the sizzle.​
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String Savers - the all grey ones made completely out of the graphtech material - People love them or hate them.. def change to tone however, if you break strings a lot they are great but at the loss of strat character. They get the "who threw the blanket on my tone" comments a lot.​
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String saver classics - Steel block with graphtech material only in string groove - I have not seen a lot of people comment on these but when I do they get lumped in with the other graphtech string savers so there may be some bias in these reviews. These are the most expensive at over 80 dollars.​
 
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