Thank you!

Thanks so much!

My dad wanted a try after I was done working on it. He said give me a try

I'm planning on an update to this video. One thing you might want to try as well is just a nut file to ramp the slot in the saddle down, and back towards the bridge. Similar to "back filing" a nut -- all this means is you tilt the file down slightly as you file, with the file pointing towards the bridge/tail of the guitar. So instead of filing a straight slot, you ramp it down, with the ramp going down towards the bridge/tail of the guitar. Just like on the nut, you file downward with a ramp sloping slightly down toward the headstock. Dead strings, buzzing strings, sitar-sounding strings -- this is always due to an issue at the contact points, namely the nut and the saddle, where the string physically touches those points. Sometimes the nut slot is too wide. It's very important the slots are properly sized at both the nut and the saddles. Too much play and you can get weird buzzes/overtones. Too little play and the string will bind, especially at the nut. Too little break angle, and you can also get buzzing/dead strings, and even intonation issues. I've fixed intonation issues at the first fret by simply back filing the nut slots -- ramping them down -- this changes the point of intonation as you're changing where the string is contacting the slot, and how much of the string. Hopefully this helps. I will say, this "re-pointing the saddle" does work, and I'm kind of torn on whether to continue recommending that, or simply re-sloping the slots with a careful filing with a nut slotting file. Music Nomad makes a set of diamond files that are even better. I personally own the Stewmac but I do this professionally and they're like over 600 dollars for a full set...the Music Nomad is around 200, and less if you get a partial set, say for doing one guitar. Normal nut slotting files will also work but these are just great because they cut on the sides as well. So you ensure a perfectly smooth, even, properly cut slot on all sides, every time. They also immediately fix that dreaded "ping" at the nut when tuning up, which I used to solve by creasing fine sandpaper, like 1500 grit, and wetting it out (or licking it....gross!) and then smoothing the slot out by running the creased sandpaper through it repeatedly. Now if only I could condense this into a video! Much easier for me to type out a mess like this than put it into an organized video. Let me know if any of this helps and if you solve your issue. I'll be here to help so just reply to me in the comments here if you need further assistance.

@@guitar_md just as an experiment I have decided to swap the bridge (Gotoh 6-adjustable saddles) back to the original (classic ashtray with 3 adjustable saddles). I do remember the string sounding fine when I first bought it. If this does the trick, I’ll keep the ashtray bridge and call it a lesson. I thought I was doing the right thing when I “upgraded” the bridge, there’s definitely a lesson to be learned here. If that doesn’t do it the next thing I’ll be looking at is filing the saddle in question. Looking forward to see the follow up video on this. I have been binging on you channel 🤙🏼 and love the material. Will keep you updated, I’ve got young kids so everything happens slowly at my place.

@@TheOdizeo Thanks so much for the update, and definitely let me know how it goes. I'll be here. Things happen slowly here too. Still working on videos about jobs I did last year. I have a LOT more content on the way. I've been meaning to cover all sorts of things. My meticulousness prevents me from publishing as frequently as I like, I'm sure for some videos I have well over 100 hours of work into them. But very, very exciting stuff on the way. Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see and I'll throw it on the docket. Curious how that bridge swap ends up coming out!

@@guitar_md I've got good news buddy. I changed the bridge back to the stock ashtray (3 saddle) over the weekend and would you believe it, low E string is singing again. Although it was a rather simple fix, I feel like I've learnt a lot out of this one. This had been a pain on my back for months now, and I honestly didn't know where to start. I'm very interested in being able to fix and work on my guitars, but so far I've mostly learnt about the electronics side of things. I taught myself (with the help of youtube of course) how circuits work and how to solder, and I have since worked on most of my guitars successfully, BUT I haven't done much work on the guitars bodies or necks, besides installing gotoh sd-91 on all the necks and the occasional fret oil. It wasn't until I watched this video that I started putting the pieces together in my head, and for that thank you! Since the 3 saddle bridge has a downside when setting intonation I decided to order the "in tune" saddles from gotoh. So far I think they're working great. Only problem is they have a full barrel thickness compared to the stock ones, and so I can't lower the 1st and 6th strings to my preferred action. But after watching you working on that saddle I'm confident I can file and sand the bottom of the saddles and it'll work :) There is actually one topic I'd love you to add to the video list: how to fix neck alignment, just so the 1st and 6th strings are an equal distance from the end of the fretboard. Some of my guitars, most painfully my jazzmaster pro ii, have one or the other string way to close to the edge of the board and it can sometime throw me right off the board. That got me thinking, is the bridge installed slightly off? is it the neck? I did find some information on the Dan Erlewine "how to make your guitar sound great" but not much. He explains his approach of unscrewing the neck bolts slightly and the "forcing the neck" into the desired position and then retightening the bolts. But that means that you've got to have some extra room in the neck pocket, and I always thought that an ideal neck pocket is a rather tight one! All I know is that I know nothing! I will try and send you some pictures (email?) of my work on the saddles...

Thanks so much! By relief, I mean the curvature of the neck. It can be measured by holding the string down at the 1st and last fret, and measuring the gap between the bottom of the string and the top of the 7th fret. I'm working on a video about truss rod adjustment, what it is, how to do it, how to measure it, and I'll go in depth about what neck relief is. One way to think of it is if you're holding a piece of string between your hands. Pinching it between your thumb and index finger with each hand. Imagine it's loose. Like a "U" shape. As you pull it taut, it straightens out, and becomes fully straight eventually -- this is what the truss rod does as you tighten it. What you're doing is taking the neck from the "U" shape to straight -- or close to straight -- when you adjust the "relief." So the relief would be how extreme that "U" shape is. The greater it is, the greater your relief. Generally speaking you only want a few thousandths of relief, or having the neck *almost* straight (or as straight as possible, if you prefer that -- like I do).

In a perfect world, it wouldn't be touching, but if it isn't causing any issues, I think it's OK. As long as it has enough contact with the saddle itself and is not buzzing. Only is a problem if it's causing noticeable issues, and usually with contact points, it'll be buzzing. None of that and you're good to go!

the 6th strings sounds normal when i do a mini bend

Sorry I took so long here! Didn't see this comment until just now. It's possible the fret is loose. I have another video demonstrating this problem here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/odRjeMue2rCphWQ.html That may or may not be your issue, but it sounds like it is. Sorry again for the late reply and let me know if this helps or if you're still having the same issue.

It could also be a slightly low spot if it sounds normal when you're bending. It's very common for the fret ends to come up. It only takes a tiny amount to create a dead spot or a tonally dead spot. Sometimes I'll gently lift and reglue the fret end. I use flush ground end nippers for pulling/lifting frets. Making sure the frets are glued and level should solve it, no matter the fret issue.

How's the bridge sitting? Parallel to the top? With Floyds the saddles usually seem to last, but if the problem persists, I'd try replacing the saddle itself and see if that fixes it. I'd also verify that the intonation is spot on

Thanks for reply 😎👍 The bridge sits quite parallel to the body, slightly backwards as i like it that way (lowers the action little), strings won't touch anything, pups, intonation screws, also neck is straight, no buzzing. One thing i noticed tho, the string block always makes the new string having a small gap in its round wounds as the string bends thru saddle. Maybe the string will loses its elasticity and it's about the string block. Usually wounding looks more or less straight but it looks like having a slight unwinding going on, very hard actually to catch up with the eye. For some reason the whole string loses its elasticity. Do i over tighten the string? Or the block is too sharp and damages the new string. Only things i can think of. I don't know if there are some super heavy strings I should use, like paradigm or dunlop heavy core or something. Its E-II with Original Floyd Rose, should be quality. 😀✅

Technically only the contact point that the string is touching matters. But when filing it's best to keep it even for cosmetics

Try a nut file! Very curious if that would work. As I mention in the video, another commenter pointed out he thought I was wrong by "re pointing" the saddle -- and I think he's right, but I haven't tested it yet. It's very likely that using a nut file to ramp the string slot down a bit towards the back will solve your problem. Very interesting it has the same thing. My friend Anthony has had this Hellraiser for many years and has played a ton of gigs with it. This fix definitely worked, but I wonder if something less invasive, like the nut file, would have done the trick. I will admit these bridges are a bit of a pain to work with. I only wish I could do this one over again and try that slot filing technique. My theory is the Low E wears into the slot, and over time, it digs its way down and makes the slot *completely flat,* when it should be ramped. Just like a nut slot ramps down, so the string only contacts the middle and front of the slot toward the fingerboard. I bet a slight ramping of the slot in the saddle was all that was needed, and perhaps repointing the saddle was overkill. Of course, harder saddles than don't indent would be the best solution. Let me know if you try anything. Hosco nut files or any nut files on eBay will be much cheaper than Stewmac. If you check my short video on filling nut slots you'll see the power of nut files too. If you're gonna have any specialty tool, those would be the ones.

Let me know if a nut file works first -- I haven't tried this yet, but next time I run into this problem I was planning on merely re-cutting and re-ramping the string slot with a nut file. Using the correct width and ramping the slot might work. It's less invasive, and *might* solve the problem. I've been curious to test this myself but haven't had the opportunity. Let me know how that goes, and if you end up grinding the saddle down and re-pointing it. Would love to know the results!

Q tips and Blue Magic metal polish work great. I always clean up everything but don't always show everything in my videos due to time constraints (filming is extremely time consuming and labor intensive). I might make a dedicated video on guitar cleaning and talking about the specific products and methods I use for different scenarios

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