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Question different JP piezo bridge saddles: pros-cons

Santuzzo

Santuzzo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 22, 2013
Messages
204
Location
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Hi,

I have had two different JP7s, both equipped with piezo saddles.
But both have different saddles.
These are the older saddles:
old_saddles.jpg

And these are the new type saddles:
new_saddles.jpg


Here's a pic of where the high strings would sit after bending:
IMG_0902.jpg


The one difference I have noticed is that with the never saddles the strings 'shift' on the saddle when doing bends, so they don't stay in the center of the saddle, which can't be a good thing.
The older saddles seem the be better with that, regardless of how much I bend, the strings stay in the middle of the saddle and don't move.

Has anybody else noticed this?
Any advantages or disadvantages to the new saddles? Why were they changed to begin with?

Thanks,
Lars
 
Last edited:
My JP6 has those "old" saddles, I don't have this "shifting" issue after bending strings.
I'd say there's too much friction on the saddle, maybe it needs a tiny bit of lubrication?
 
Rachmaninoff said:
My JP6 has those "old" saddles, I don't have this "shifting" issue after bending strings.
I'd say there's too much friction on the saddle, maybe it needs a tiny bit of lubrication?
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yes, the old saddles are better in my opinion with regard to this. It's the new saddles where the string shifts when bending. I'm not sure if lubrication would be a solution, I would think that would make it even worse.
 
Personally, I would not be worried about this. On my old strat the strings would shift like that too but it certainly never caused any issues when playing. It's a small shift and unless I looked at the saddles, I'd never have known the strings shifted at all.

I don't know why EBMM changed the saddle design but the advantage I see in the newer saddles is that the string does not get 'caught' on the edge of the old saddle behind the piezo element. That would, in theory mean one less source of friction or wear on the strings.
 
Thanks!
Oh, ok, I get it and it makes perfect sense now. Probably the exact same thing (string resting on the edge of the base plate on the older saddles) prevents the strings from shifting on the saddles.
 
i've noticed this and i think the new style is much much better.
with the old style, sometimes it was possible for the string to not fully connect to the piezo saddle because it was resting on the first contact point. I noticed this with a jpx 7 string when i was trying to tune the 7th string to g with a 62 I believe. The piezo saddle and the string weren't making full contact so i had to use my thumb to bend the string a little downward and that did the trick. ever since the jp13, these new style saddles have come to surface and they solve a lot of little problems i'm sure.
plus, why not just cut out that extra contact point? it was unnecessary in the first place.
that's why i love this brand. they're always improving!
 
christheasian said:
i've noticed this and i think the new style is much much better.
with the old style, sometimes it was possible for the string to not fully connect to the piezo saddle because it was resting on the first contact point. I noticed this with a jpx 7 string when i was trying to tune the 7th string to g with a 62 I believe. The piezo saddle and the string weren't making full contact so i had to use my thumb to bend the string a little downward and that did the trick. ever since the jp13, these new style saddles have come to surface and they solve a lot of little problems i'm sure.
plus, why not just cut out that extra contact point? it was unnecessary in the first place.
that's why i love this brand. they're always improving!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input!
So, I guess in terms of the piezo the new saddles are an improvement. But in my opinion in terms of the string shifting on the saddle when bending the newer saddles took a step backwards compared to the older saddles where the strign stays put and does not move, regardless of how much I bend.
 
Santuzzo, I may be a bit late to this discussion but I've noticed the same thing with strings shifting on the newer saddles. For me as well, I would rather have a solid point of contact for the string versus whatever benefit the new style offers for the piezo function. Going slightly out of tune after a bend is just not great on guitars of this caliber!

Currently I am trying different string gauges and tweaking the setup on my new JP7 to see if this can be alleviated. Otherwise, I may have to find a 7 string with the older saddles like my JP6 has.

Hoping to raise more awareness of this and see if we can find a solution, because these are fantastic guitars otherwise!
 
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