any experience in this area- I have some saddle with a nice groove and concerned for breakage of strings at random if I lube it at this stage as there will be increased movement and am indifferent to filing the saddles and polishing because without the plate finish -it would have to be oiled saddles always along with saddle height adjustment- which I could do anyway if I just replaced them for 40 or so bucks.

any experiences similar? advice appreciated -I don't want strings cut left and right when playing out so- I'm using another of my strats..

Hi steevie,

Which would you rather have? I would replace parts long before I would file them. And, you're right, if you file them you will remove the plating and they will deteriorate faster.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

i agree with the above post. but, if you go the route of replacement, GraphTech makes what they call "String Saver" saddles. i have them on one of my strats, and i didn't notice any negative affect on tone. they won't groove like the metal ones though, so they may be the ticket for you. as far as i know they only come in black though, so i don't know how you'd feel about that. but they work, if that's all you care about.

I always polish the brass saddles on my tele and have no negative effects from that. Brass is softer though isn't it.

With files and filing, it's only ever as good as you are careful. What type of saddles are we talking about here? I can't see the bent steel ones being plated.

I have a very fine diamond file set aside specificly for the task. One or two passes with a beast of a file, to do the lump of the work. The smooth out with a needle file, then the diamond file to finish off, then onto the polish. Much the same procedure as sanding wood in a lot of ways.

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No no and no