floyd rose saddle shim

[arie_shapira]

i'm finishing up my build, and i see the strings are not perfectly on the radius - specificaly the D string
when i look ate the saddles i can see this:


the difference in height is pretty big
is this normal?
it looks as though only the back of the saddle is raised in the other strings
will a shim be enough?

thanks!

[arie_shapira]

just coming back to say i solved this using copper shielding tape and a lot of careful cutting.
the high saddle was 1.2mm taller (the metal itself) than the saddle next to it.
i think this might be an error on the manufacturing side of things on on the QC

[McCreed]

Hi Arie.
Glad to hear you got it sorted. I would say you're right about a QC issue as a FR's (and licensed ones) saddles should be the same height (thickness). Just one more thing I dislike about working with them, but anyway...
You can buy shim sets for them but they're over 25 bucks for a set of 12.

In your case with one saddle being higher than the rest, I would have considered lowering the high saddle by filing the bottom instead of raising the others to match.
You didn't say whether you created a radius with the copper shielding tape, and I know that wouldn't solve the radius issue, but lowering the high one would give you a level start (sorry for the pun) and reduce the amount of tape or shim material under the saddles required to achieve a radius. 1.2mm is a lot of copper tape IMO.

[arie_shapira]

i thought about reducing saddle height, but I think the problem is different:
i think the saddles were made to give a 12" radius, but one saddle was the wrong (short) one
after shimming it the radius is good
it was about 20 layers, and drilling it was pretty annoying

[McCreed]

Ahhh yes, sorry.
My eyes immediately went to the G saddle, thinking it was too high! (even though you did mention the D saddle)

Never mind me... carry on!

[arie_shapira]

well, I have to redo the shim
the copper is too soft and the saddle slides forward all the time
(I have a way to do it at work, luckily)