Hello ClassicRock92,

Bent steel is my choice.

They have a nicer appearance {to me},
and I do believe they add to a more
authentic strat sound.

As for scratching on my hand,
that's never been a problem.

Cheers.

to me i like the block look better ....but i have both...i cant say anything about tone... i have differnet pick-ups in all my strats...as far as the muting goes....i have no troubles with either

hey martian, dont you mean limbo??? not placebo.
lol.

I never liked the block saddles, they just sounded dull to me, even unplugged.. and didn't look like good hard metal either. They suck vibration at the bridge instead of transmitting it to the body, no doubt about it. I put the Callaham bent steel, vintage style saddles and steel inertia block in my MIA strat last week and I'm totally convinced now. It's not just more brightness, i have more sustain now, more apparent overtone harmonics, more attack, and actually more bottom end. My low E string finally gives me that piano like tone that vintage strats have. Also, the Callaham saddles have a smooth crown on the saddle intonation screws, and don't stick out far, so there's no hand-chewing going on either. Can't recommend them highly enough!

I voted for block saddles because, my main player, a 99 mia, uses blocks. However, I have played the newer mia with bent steel, and it does'nt make me sound like EC. So, I guess aesthetically, I would choose the vintage saddles due to origonality, which is desirable in an instrument, which is vintage in design.
I would like my next guitar to have the vintage saddles, but it would never be a deciding factor for me.