Telecasters haven't changed much through the years. Even David Gilmour says the same thing for the Stratocaster, that it hasn't needed any changes since the '50s. We agree, although not all components made these days are up to par for those of us in the iron shed tinkering away, looking for crème de la crème parts and raising the bar. The Music City Groove Master Telecaster Saddles were sent this way by our dear friend Joe Glaser. Believe it or not, we give Joe a call here and there with obscure questions, such as why the saddles on our vintage 1953 Gibson LG-1 are not made of bone, and what will happen if we swap them.
The answer can only be found by doing it, but of course Joe Glaser has already been there and done that many times over and, he confirmed our hunch that even though the saddle on the LG-1 wasn't necessarily what some would consider the best for it, that saddle somehow is a part of the whole that makes the guitar sound as lovely as it does, and "something" will be lost if changed. We thought so. When Joe isn't hunkered down at Glaser Instruments playing savant and spiritual tone high priest to the guitar legends, he can often be found deep in the ocean swimming along reefs all over the world. Yes, the sea, and guitars will forever be places to meditate on finding ourselves.
Music City, along with their Tom Bukovac-approved and -designed wrap tailpieces, is now cranking out brass saddles for Telecasters. We got a set and used Jonn Richardson's blonde Telecaster from Charley's Guitars in Dallas he bought a couple years ago in a random stop to their shop. Did Jonn want a Tele when he went in there? Nope. But we all know how that goes. When you find them, you leave with them or forever feel the missing space artistically. Come on now, what's the worst that can happen? You just learn a few things and pass it on — no harm no foul. You take your shots and are forever better for it. A hundred years from now, what matters? That we lived our lives finding joy, loving, and chasing the muse.
Here is what Glaser says about these: The Music City Bridge Groove Master Saddles solve all of these issues, sound great, and are easy to install, set to height, and intonate. They have a great array of micro grooves to secure the spacing wherever you prefer and a clear intonation line in a carefully tested profile to keep you perfectly in tune. Fender used a fine steel "all-thread" design around 1960 and '61, but threads sit at an angle on rod stock, and they were prone to "sitar." The Music City Bridge Tele Saddles have grooves that are not angled for this very reason, so notes are clean.
Every saddle has two usable sides, and they can be flipped to reverse the intonation pattern. For instance, the B/E pair has the opposite stagger from the D/G pair, using a plain third string.
They offer these assembled in a traditional Fender steel ashtray bridge plate, or as a set of three saddles, screws, and springs. And because every detail matters, they feature American screws with that same superior 6-32 thread as the originals, and because they are now stainless-steel, they won't rust. That's everything!
We rolled down to Rockin' Robins guitar shop to catch up with TQR Advisory Board Member Clancey Compton so we could put these saddles in, and all listen to them, shoot the breeze, and have takeout lunch. The saddles went on fine, but you have to take your time dialing in the intonation, because it is what we do — and it matters. Sure enough, the grooves on these saddles held the strings in place far better, the strings now sit evenly over the pole pieces, which is critical, and the Tele lost a wee bit of its prior "sitar" issues. Now it's a bit bolder, louder, and prouder. The biggest change we all noticed is that it brought a sweet clarity to things, more articulate, especially in the neck pickup, which Jonn was thinking of replacing, since it was somewhat dark, and with the Groove Masters it now became far more open and quite gorgeous, harmonically pleasing. Interesting. What a bonus, and it saved Jonn 300 bucks on a new set of pickups. These saddle sets run only about $38 and are toting the note. It was another fine Saturday afternoon in Texas chasing the shimmer and bloom. And we found it. TQ—Riverhorse
musiccitybridge.com