Acoustic saddle shim question

scarry67

I need to slightly shim my Yamaha’s saddle. It’s only the high E that’s too low but am I best putting a single shim all the way across rather than a tiny strip of wood/plastic under offending string section? 

Winny_Pooh

In practice if you make it perhaps 10mm wide and taper the one end you shouldn't hear any difference. Tone purists wont sleep at night though. 
If you want to improve intonation as well then a new saddle is easier to make from a blank than you may think. I just used a thicknessed bone blank, sandpaper and some basic needle files. 

scarry67

I may buy a saddle and sand it down at some point. It’s a faff experimenting with shims as I have to remove strings to get the saddle out

ICBM

If it's only a small shim I would probably just do it the full length, because that will guarantee the saddle is sitting fully on it, and you won't notice the extra height on the low strings really.

If that doesn't quite hold true, I would laminate a shim onto the bottom of the saddle with superglue, then file it away towards the bass end. That will produce a better taper and a truly flat saddle bottom.

scarry67

I’m tempted by a simple strip of old credit card type plastic. Right height (if not for purists.) Would a match’s wood be any better? 

ICBM

This is probably a controversial opinion, but I think that unless you use something really daft like rubber, it isn't going to make any noticeable difference. Once it's under the compression of about a hundred pounds of string tension then pretty much any material will transmit vibration effectively.

scarry67

I’ll raise a glass to that!