I have a 2004 American Standard Strat with "modern" saddles. I noticed that all of the new MIA Strats have vintage saddles. Is there a difference between the two other than how they look? Would you recommend replacing mine with vintage style ones? If so, which do you recommend?

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2012 Fender American Standard Stratocaster HSS
2011 Gibson SG Standard
Budda Superdrive 30 combo (Pre-Peavey)
MXR Carbon Copy Delay
Modtone Vintage Wah
Korg Pitchblack Tuner
GFS Liquid Tremolo Classic
GFS Pro Chorus Classic

Not all new American strats have vintage saddles.

The Deluxe and the Jeff Beck guitars don't have them.

Fender switched the saddles in 2008 when the American Series became (once again) the American Standard.

I also have a 2004 American Series and thought about replacing the modern block saddles with the bent steel vintage styled ones like the Am Stds use now. But I decided I actually am happy with the way my Strat sounds and won't bother with different saddles.

Some may argue that the bent steel saddles sound better than the block ones. I don't know. If you have the money and time to switch saddles, please do and report back with your findings. I bet there has got to be a saddle shootout thread here somewhere.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

I would love to find someone making a ceramic version of the block, American Series variety saddles.

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Robert Moog - "Hey... where do all these patch cables go?"

My FSR Tele has the block saddles and I like the way they look.
I'm thinking of changing my Vintage Saddles on the strat to blocks.
I was interested in this thread to see if anyone had done a comparison too.

Like metropolis74 said, I'm surprised there hasn't been a shootout!

Must be a utube somewhere...there is for everything else it seems!

-T

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

I have guitars with both type of saddles and also one with graphite and as far as tone I think pickups make the difference. They all work fine and other than the different look it is all good.

Hi Penguin: conventional wisdom is that "modern" block saddles have more mass and so give more sustain. Conversely, "vintage" bent steel ones therefore are supposed to have less sustain but more classic twang.

Sustain v twang. If you feel you can hear a vital difference then those are your options.

Personally, I have a sort of instinct that I want to match vintage saddles to lower output pickups; block saddles to higher output "modern" type pups. So that's how my Strats are set up. Whether there's any meaningful reality to that - I just can't be bothered to argue. You pays your money you takes your choice.

Cheers - C

As a guy who seems to spend ages optimising the performance of the Trem system on my Strats (and those of friends), I'm forming the suspicion that block style saddles with slots are responsible for friction in the free movement of strings at the bridge. I certainly have fewer friction problems with the more vintage style saddle..

I may be wrong on this, but now change block style saddles as a matter of course. Usually for bent steel, but sometimes with Graphtec Tusque block style.

I'd be interested in any other view on this.

In terms of sound/sustain, I do hear a very slight improvement with the block style - but it's very slight..

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

I put Callaham bent steel saddles in my 06´ American Series Strat. My first impression was that the guitar rings clearer and louder, but also the sound is edgier, slightly spiky. Lowering the pickups cured the problem, though. I don't hear any change in sustain.

I like these http://www.fullcontacthardware.com/saddle-kit.htm#

Hopefully Jeff will release a complete two-point style strat bridge very soon.

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Robert Moog - "Hey... where do all these patch cables go?"