JTV69 saddle setup

[Sampo72]

Hi from Finland!

 

I getting back to my Variax JTV69 (actually my 3rd one...). I decided to quit it after I had to change innards and kind of lost interest. Now I've noticed (and I remember these were reasons to take break) that virtual capo tuning is way worse now than it was with previous guitars. It takes 3-5 times to get string to be at proper pitch. Intonation is pretty good, but I noticed that saddles are kind of radiused. Should they be perpendicular to the surface?

 

I could not find correct allen wrench to make adjustments -- is 5/64 correct size?

 

Thanks for help in advance!

 

Sampo

[brue58ski]

If you're asking what I think you're asking, the JTV69 has a 12" neck radius so the saddles should follow that radius. I'm not sure what the Allen wrench size is. If you search these forums, the size is in one of the posts somewhere I think.

[brue58ski]

Did some of my own researtch and here's what I found...

 

Thanks again Martin, but I have SOLVED the issue.

 I took the guitar to a friend's house. He has a great collection of tools. We found a wrench that fit perfectly, and to my surprise it measured as 0.050" (well, 0.0485-0.052 across various facets). I borrowed it. I re-measured my own wrench and got essentially the same values across the flats, but it was still loose in the screw! WTF?, as they say. Then I had a close look at my own wrench (the one supplied with the guitar) with a magnifier and found that the ends had been rounded over so that it no longer gripped. Presumably someone in the shop had done a tuneup too vigorously and damaged the wrench.

 

So the upshot is that the Allen wrench sizes supplied were correct, i.e.

1 - 1.5mm hex
1 - 4mm hex
1 - 5/64" hex
1 - 7/64" hex
1 - 3/32" hex
1 - 0.050" hex

But the smallest one was damaged on arrival.

 

So the 0.050" hex is the right size

[Charlie_Watt]

The allen wrenches that come with it are cheap Chinese metal.  Get good hardened ones and they won't round over. 

[Sampo72]

If you're asking what I think you're asking, the JTV69 has a 12" neck radius so the saddles should follow that radius. I'm not sure what the Allen wrench size is. If you search these forums, the size is in one of the posts somewhere I think.

Thanks for replies everybody!!

 

I meant that should single saddle, say high e-string, also follow radius or should the be arranged in steps that are at level with respect to bridge plate? I've read that saddles of  Wilkinson/Gotoh-type bridges are meant to be at level, meanining both adjustement screws are set in similar heights. And furthermore both e-string saddles should touch bridge plate for optimal performance. I was thinking that maybe because they are now tilted I am getting weaker signal from pietzo and tuning problems. I don't know ...

[snhirsch]

I have a feeling that opinions on this will be all over the map, but personally I always keep the bridge pieces stepped and parallel to the top of the guitar.  My reasoning is that you will be picking more or less parallel to the guitar, so why would you want the bridge piece angled with respect to the initial movement of the string? 

[brue58ski]

If you mean the actual bridge saddle and not all 6 of them relative to each other, then the saddle itself should be parallel. That's what I do anyway.

[Sampo72]

Again, thanks!

 

Small update -- I had some time with the guitar yesterday. I put hair band to dampen tremolo springs and other one to just behind the nut. I think that solved some volume problems with open e-string. Also noticed that virtual capo works a lot better if the strings are played really quietly. I think it means I probably have some fret buzzes. Needs more work but at least there is some progress (especially saddles).