Archtop Bridge Angle

[Flat1954]

Hey,

I've got a really great Loar 309.
I've done a complete Setup with Martin Monel Strings 12-54.
The nut is perfect, neck relief is under 0.008 and the action is 4/64 to 6/64 at 14. Fret with capo at 1. Fret
I've set the intonation and checked it at 5, 12, and 17th Fret.

The intonation is really good, but why is the bridge so much angled? It looks weird.

Greetings from Germany,
Daniel

[sgosnell]

The angle should be 'whatever it takes to get good intonation'. It depends a lot on the strings. Different strings may require different intonation.

[RJVB]

This doesn't look strange at all (just a bit extreme), but pray tell, how did you set the intonation if not by tuning this angle yourself? You say you have a capo at fret 1, does that mean you tune down half a step so as to get standard tuning with a shorter scale length? That could explain why you need a different compensation.

It you want to see a bridge angle that does look strange: look at the photos of the AR610CE that was put up for sale. It's got the opposite angle, one that seems to remove all compensation (Eastmans use a "straight-edge" saddle, not a micro-compensated one, presumbably so plain wire G strings intonate correctly).

[Flat1954]

This doesn't look strange at all (just a bit extreme), but pray tell, how did you set the intonation if not by tuning this angle yourself? You say you have a capo at fret 1, does that mean you tune down half a step so as to get standard tuning with a shorter scale length? That could explain why you need a different compensation.

It you want to see a bridge angle that does look strange: look at the photos of the AR610CE that was put up for sale. It's got the opposite angle, one that seems to remove all compensation (Eastmans use a "straight-edge" saddle, not a micro-compensated one, presumbably so plain wire G strings intonate correctly).

Thanks for the feedback!
I've only set the Action with capo at first fret.