Post by da1510a on Apr 20, 2022 14:08:22 GMT -5
I bought my first classical guitar. It is a cheap used one to see if I like the style. It’s a neglected Yamaha CS40 off Craigslist. When I saw it, two strings were missing and the rest corroded. It sounded ok for what was possible at that time in a rainstorm. When I brought it home and started cleaning it, only then did I notice it was missing the saddle. Very disappointed in myself for not noticing this earlier.
I thought of just playing it as is because the intonation was fine. However, I didn’t want to miss out on the potential for better sound and decided to make my own. I found two sources of plastic. One is a hook for cable bundling and the other is from a scientific instrument. Both were discards and appeared to be made of hard ABS plastic. I used a hacksaw, sandpaper and files. The plastic from the cable part is slightly softer than the one from the instrument. It sounded horrible. Strings 1-3 are nylon and sounded like it had two notes when one was plucked. The one made from the instrument sounded better but was still odd. Then I remembered I had a blank bone ukelele saddle. It is just barely wide enough. This one sounds a lot better.
Lesson learned. check for all parts when buying. Use the proper materials when fabricating. Not all plastics sound the same. Bone sounds better than plastic in this case.
I thought of just playing it as is because the intonation was fine. However, I didn’t want to miss out on the potential for better sound and decided to make my own. I found two sources of plastic. One is a hook for cable bundling and the other is from a scientific instrument. Both were discards and appeared to be made of hard ABS plastic. I used a hacksaw, sandpaper and files. The plastic from the cable part is slightly softer than the one from the instrument. It sounded horrible. Strings 1-3 are nylon and sounded like it had two notes when one was plucked. The one made from the instrument sounded better but was still odd. Then I remembered I had a blank bone ukelele saddle. It is just barely wide enough. This one sounds a lot better.
Lesson learned. check for all parts when buying. Use the proper materials when fabricating. Not all plastics sound the same. Bone sounds better than plastic in this case.