A high saddle maybe...

[Mike Mandelas]

Dear friends, yesterday i had a chance to play a gig in Salonica with some friends from the University years. I played soprano sax and we had a terrific time. The DB player was a young guy with good chops and performed with a fully carved German flatback, about two years old. During our rehearsal he played unamplified for some time and i had the chance to hear the instrument carefully. The thing that amazed me is that although the E,A and D strings delivered a consistent sound, the G string was rather "choked". The bassist new it and he told me that despite the fact that his luthier tried to fix it (changing the sounpost position, trying some different strings etc) the sound remained choked. The amp eliminates the problem up to some extent, but a seasoned ear can distinguish the difference.

Today in the morning i tried the bass for two hours. It is a good instrument, strung with Spiros weich, built in Mittenwald and costing about $8.000. My limited experience make my mind towards a high saddle, which served me perfectly once in the past, in a similar problem. I have not the time to do it now but the fella asked me to discuss it with the Forum's members. So, i would be grateful if you could give us your thoughts about this situation. Your experience is the only reference point we have.
Mike

[Mike Mandelas]

Any thoughts, any ideas are wellcomed.
Mike

[Matthew Tucker]

Really, there are too many possibilities to be able to just say yes or no to a high saddle.

If you are thinking that the bass might like less tension on the top, see what the effect is if you tune down a semitone, or try lighter strings. If that improves things then yes, a higher saddle might help.

[Mike Mandelas]

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Hi Matthew
i was hoping for your answer, since some of our luthiers are for some days engaged in the ISB show and obviously away from their computers.
I tried a G string with less tension, a Corelli 370 F, and the bass responds much better than the Spirocore Weich G. I restrung it with the Corellis but the rest of the strings were not so loud, so i put the Spiros back and left only the Corelli G. It seems that this instrument needs less tension in the G string, so i desided to proceed for a high saddle. I'm planning to do it in the first days of July and keep you posted. Meanwhile any other ideas are welcomed.
Mike

[Arnold Schnitzer]

My first steps would be to re-dress the fingerboard, as there is possibly too much camber on the g side; and then adjust the soundpost a bit toward the bass bar, to emphasize the g side.