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I'm ready to position my tenor 17" scale bridge.
Do I position the center of the saddle at 17 & square or angle a bit like guitar?

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Mike McNerney

Mine are straight across. I do at a bit of compensation to the scale length. I put the sound hole side of the saddle at 17 3/32"

Slanting the saddle would be counter productive if the ukulele had a high G tuning. Maybe it would make sense if only a low G was going to be used.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

You want to place the bridge at 2 x distance from nut to 12th fret *plus* about 2mm (for a tenor).

I write it this way because I don't know whether your fretboard was cut so the 12th fret is at 8.5 inches, or so that the bridge sits at 17 inches. So measure and place accordingly.

As johnparchem wrote, square placement if you are using re-entrant tuning.

If you use a saddle about 2mm wide, you can file it forwards or back to adjust each individual string's compensation. Don't do this until you have set your saddle height, as the lower the saddle the less compensation is required.

it's a 1/8 or 3mmm saddle.my 12th is 8.5
Is that measure to the front of the saddle or the center?

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Mike McNerney

Sorry, should have said, to the middle of the saddle. Tenor compensation is usually nominal scale length (17 inches) plus 1.5-2.5 mm compensation (most for C, least for A and G), so you want 17 1/12 inches to the middle of the saddle to be about right. Can't in my head convert 1/12 to conventional imperial, 11/128? 5/64 or even 3/32 should be close enough to allow you to fine tune once you have the action set up how you want it.

I do 17 to the front edge of the saddle slot, BUT, I also angle the saddle 7 1/2 degrees on the vertical plane, so there's effectively compensation built in. My saddles are 1/8", low g tuning - a saddle that thick is enough for compensation.

Like others, the slot itself is square.

I use the stewmac fret calculator which gives the saddle position in the center of the saddle-slot. They use a straight saddle ( one measurement).

Bob

Definitely measure from the 12th fret!! Many plans or pre-made fretboards are not exactly 17" scale. The only thing I measure is the compensation. Take a straight edge and lay it on the fretboard from the nut to the 12th fret. Mark the center of the 12th fret, then measure the compensation from that mark. Then move the straight edge so the end is at the 12th fret and the compensation mark is where the saddle should be
Compensation calculator: http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator