Compensated saddle
A saddle shaped or angled so that each string's contact point sits at a slightly different distance from the nut, improving intonation.
A straight saddle cannot be correct for every string at once, because plain and wound strings of different gauges need different speaking lengths. Compensating means stepping or slanting the contact point so that the plain strings are set slightly further back than the wound ones, which brings the octave and the fretted notes closer to true pitch. Acoustic guitars use compensated saddles almost universally, and electric players adjust the same variable by moving individual bridge saddles.
Example: An acoustic guitar whose bridge saddle shows a stepped or slanted profile, rather than a straight bar, has a compensated saddle.
See also
Related
- PageSaddle
- PageIntonation
- PageSaddle slot
- PageAction
- PageArchtop
- PageB-Bender
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley