Have spent a lot of time experimenting with oversaddle linting and my new composite stable leg. I'm leaving behind to complete Old Guror and repairs, but now I feel that most things have landed and will be more efficient in the future. This parlor guitar from 1910-1920 with vein painting is the first to be complete with both oversaddle toning and composite pitches.
This guitar has been used by the Salvation Army when it went like so many others like it, was bought at a Salvation Flea Market by the customer. Absolutely OK condition, the biggest problem was probably a real crack in the lid below the sound hole. Filled it with a spruce stick from an old guitar lid, large cracks must be filled with new wood. Good thicknesses on most wood, the original rosewood fingerboard was retained. The straps sat almost exactly right and I did not have to refill and saw new grooves for the straps. The stable in black-painted maple was also a good height, had to widen it a little on the front with a piece of ebony to make room for the stable leg.
The tuning screws were in good original condition, but either they had been replaced very early or the factory was made wrong because the holes for the posts were as large as for a nylon string mechanic. They needed to be refilled and we decided that it would get new tuning screws with modern distances between the posts instead of the old mechanics that could otherwise have been used. Gave the fretboard a slight 20 ″ radius to make it easier to play on.
The varnish was tired and brittle. The black on the neck had a whitish skin that was not beautiful. The neck got new black liquor varnish and the rest of the body received clear varnish which gave the varnish back its luster and stability. New alcohol varnish joins the old.
The oversaddle intonation just gets better every time I do it as I'm still learning how to do it in the best practical way. Very happy with how it turned out on this one. The bridge leg must be 4 mm thick to reach all intonation points, which is typical for a saddle-toned guitar. My new composite stable leg with spruce between posts of bone under the strings will be half as heavy as a solid stable leg. Have tested the composite tailpiece on three guitars so far and all have had the same improvement in tone. Better string separation, more even volume on the strings and balanced tone. The volume is largely the same but is first experienced a little lower as the volume comes from a wider frequency range. You get tone on all strings, even on the top fret. The guitar becomes "kind", no matter how hard you hit the strings, it never sounds bad, all the time a round sound that is gentle on the ears. Had to make a solid stable leg as well to make sure I'm not just dreaming, and I can confirm that what I'm describing is reality 🙂
When it comes to oversaddle intonation, it is never exactly the same at oversaddle. On this guitar, it was the b string that came closest to the first band and not the A string like the last three. I don't think there is a mathematical way of figuring out how it should be, it differentiates between different guitars. On the other hand, there is only one solution to the equation to get an open string, taken note on the 3rd band and taken note on the 12th band to match by moving the intonation point at the stall and oversaddle. You have to take it as it gets.
With Newtone Heritage 0.12 strings and a K&K pickup, it also sounds great!
