I noticed today when I changed the strings on my am standard. Where the strings run over the saddles, they are cutting into the metal. What the hell? Is this normal? Are the saddles not suppose to be hard metal? Kind of dissappointed. I could maybe understand if the guitar was 10yrs old but it's less than 2yrs old. Do all strats do this? I looked at my AVRI. It's not doing this. My trem is decked so there's no trem arm use. I've broken a string or two lately.(new strings) This is probably why. So have ya'll had this problem? What's the solution? Thanks guys.

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"Damn Right I Got the Blues"

Yes, this is quite normal mate. When I notice that on my saddles on restringing the guitar, I use a steel wool to sand the top of the saddle flat again. If that really bothers you, just buy a new set of saddles, they´re quite cheap!

http://fendercustomshop.com/

i couldnt pull the direct link, however its in the center, mid area, john cruz shows how to
treat this and other useful stuff.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

Ironic that 30- and 40-year old Strats do not share this malady.

Progress, eh......?



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

These must be the Fender OEM trems that people were saying were better than the Callahams from the other posts. Ive had strings digging into the Fender saddles as well, never had that on the Callahams though.

Is there an audible effect of this wear?

It throws intonation off and can be detrimental to the instrument's sustain.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I might not use my '08 Am Std as much as others use theirs, I think I'm ready for only my third set of strings in just over two years, and so far I don't have any saddle damage.

But, yes I agree that the saddles should not wear like that if they were made from quality steel, even with heavy use. I do commonly see these grooves in some of the lower-end import Strat saddles. I only changed the block on mine, thinking that the saddles were the best, I'll keep an eye on them for grooves, but so-far so-good.

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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.

Well, my 35 year old Strats did in fact have that malady ... those 70's saddles, you know.
My 45 and 55 year old Strats are just fine, thank you very much.

My mid-'70s Strats have had Graph Tech saddles for a long time because of that problem and the associated increased string breakage.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

The cast saddle of the 70s aren't quite the same thing, I doubt that Retroverbial meant to include those pieces of crap when he referred to the older models.

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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 found the video of John Cruz buffing it out with a dremel. I think I will search for some better saddles made from harder steel.

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"Damn Right I Got the Blues"

Maybe you could Call a ham radio operator to find saddles to match the block that you have installed.

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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.

OrvilleOwner is correct though -- those pot-metal pieces of crap made excellent sinkers when fishing for crawdads, but not much good for anything else.

Indeed, I was referring to the original stamped-steel "PATENT PENDING" saddles.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Too bad he couldnt patent the quality of the steel as well as the design.

The steel likely came from Pittsburgh rather than Pyongyang.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY