Compensated saddles for Tele

Infant · July 15th, 2017, 03:01 PM

I've got an old '75 Tele which I bought new when I was 18 yrs old. Lately I've really been struggling with the intonation to the point where I rarely take it out to play. I've been thinking about trying compensated saddles but there are numerous versions out there and I'm wondering if anyone has preferences. Fender, as well as others, make the "slanted" style. Others, like Wilkinson, have portions of the saddles ground off to change the "break" location of the string. Some are brass, some steel and others are titanium. Anyone know which versions work best?

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SAguitar · July 18th, 2017, 08:52 PM

I have a set by Joe Barden, and a Wilkinson set. They are both very similar and work about the same. I like them a lot. They don't let you set the intonation quite as accurately as a 6 saddle bridge but they come pretty dang close. I am confident that you would be impressed with how much more in tune your guitar will be with one of those sets on there!

Infant · July 19th, 2017, 06:14 AM

Stan, I thought the Bardens were the slanted style and the Wilkys had compensated grooves. I noticed that Fender sells slanted saddles similar to the Bardens. I'm just wondering if the strings move on these as there are no grooves to keep the strings in place.

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Infant · July 20th, 2017, 08:15 PM

So I bought the Fender saddles tonight. They cost me about $27 US so I think they were a decent deal in comparison to buying Wilkinson or Goths and having to pay for international shipping. Besides, they are US made and genuine Fender.
They look very similar to the Bardens. Not sure how they will affect the tone as I currently have chrome plated steel saddles. I'll try to put them on tomorrow and provide an update.

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anfontan · July 21st, 2017, 09:41 AM

I recently put in a Wilkinson set to replace a steel set on my tele and I like it a lot. The brass is much more mellow-just what I was hoping for-I' a happy guy!

SAguitar · July 21st, 2017, 09:19 PM

Those look like they will do the trick! I agree, the brass saddles seem to be just a little bit warmer, not quite as much in the super highs, which can be a good thing with a Tele. I filed some shallow slots for the strings to sit in on mine once I determined exactly where I wanted them to sit. I used some gauged nut files for that task.