Preparing the saddle
You will need to compensate for the thickness of the pickup in the overall height of the saddle by removing approximately .032” of saddle material. We recommend
you do this from the bottom of the saddle. This will allow you to make sure the bottom of the saddle is absolutely fl at while maintaining intonation/compensation
on the topside.
Remove the majority of the material on a belt sander fi rst. Finish it off by hand sanding against a perfectly fl at surface with semi fi ne sandpaper; 180 to 220 grit paper
is good. Finally, check the fl atness of the saddle by shining a light behind it while it rests on the fl at surface.
Saddle fit
Another very important consideration is the fi t of the saddle. This is the single most important factor in this installation! The saddle should fi t loosely enough that
you could remove it using only your fi ngertips, but not so loose that it will fall out when turned over.
If you ever need to remove the Tru • Mic from the bridgeplate, place as many fi ngers as
you can fi t behind its side and pull towards the neck with slight downward pressure.
Before replacing the mic, make sure the adhesive pads are completely removed from
the bridgeplate.
5. TRU • MIC INSTALLATION
The Tru • Mic is designed to attach to the center of the guitar’s bridge plate with the
included peel-and-stick VHB adhesive. Best results should be consistently had by
attaching the mic as shown in
(fi gure 7)
. Unlike conventional soundboard transducers,
the Tru • Mic’s positioning is not highly critical, so repositioning the mic to fi nd its
optimum location will not be necessary. Reach inside the hole and clean around under
the bridge to be sure the bridge plate is free from oil, dust and other debris. Remove
the adhesive backing from the bottom surface of the Tru • Mic and attach to the bridge
plate. Be sure to attach the mic so that the wire is following the same direction as the
Element wire. Press up fi rmly along the top surface of the Tru • Mic, especially on the
ends to secure it. It’s usually a good idea to press down on the bridge from the outside
of the guitar as you press up on the Tru • Mic from the inside to equalize pressure and
avoid cracking the top. Gently wiggle the Tru • Mic front to back as you press. Lastly,
secure the wire with the same wire clip as the Element pickup
(see fi gure 7)
.
fi g. 7
This is an internal view with the Tru • Mic mounted on the center
of the bridge plate. The Tru • Mic and Element wires are secured
with one wire clip on the bass-side of the bridge plate near the
exit hole.
proper saddle-pickup contact
(saddle lean exaggerated)
Installing the pickup
Once you have the saddle prepared, feed the pickup into the slot from inside of the guitar. Tip: insert a tooth pick, small Allen wrench or similar object through the
hole from outside the guitar to aid you in locating the hole inside the guitar. As you lay the pickup in the slot, make sure the black dot at the end of the pickup is facing
up. This will insure proper pickup phase orientation. Place the saddle in the slot over the pickup and temporarily secure it with a piece of tape. Secure the wire with
a wire clip as close to the exit hole as practical
(see fi gure 8)
. Failure to secure the pickup may produce excess boominess and feedback.
A saddle that fi ts too tight won’t be able to seat fi rmly on the pickup and thus will not
function properly. The most common results of this are very poor string balance, low
output, low frequency microphonic response, boominess and bad tonality.
A loose fi tting saddle will result in saddle tilt or lean while under pressure. This will cause
poor contact in a diff erent way. When the strings are at full tension, the saddle will pull
forward and distribute pressure solely on the front edge of the pickup. This will result in
poor tonality and possible string balance problems. One way to compensate for a loose
fi tting saddle is to sand an intentional angle on the bottom surface of the saddle so that
it will make even contact under full string tension
(see fi gure 3)
. This is not an easy task
to accomplish accurately, so we recommend that only the most experienced installers
attempt this. Another option is to create a new saddle.
fi g. 3
fi g. 4
Special considerations
Saddle material:
Undersaddle pickups respond diff erently to various saddle materials
and sometimes the diff erences can be startling. Variations in the saddle material eff ect
everything from output to string balance and tone. It’s sometimes a good idea to
experiment with a couple diff erent types of saddles to get the best results.
Short saddle:
The last 1/8” of the Element is not active. If you do not have a minimum
of 3/16” of saddle beyond the high-E string, you may experience low output from that
string. To remedy this, you can drill a small horizontal hole into the wall of the bridge at
the end of the slot approximately 1/4” in length to extend the active area of the pickup
further under the saddle
(see fi gure 4)
.
To drill this hole without disturbing the fl oor of the slot, place a small jeweler’s
screwdriver under the tip of the bit as you drill. We advise that you drill the pickup exit
hole at the opposite end of the slot through the wall of the bridge as well
(see fi gures
5 & 6).
fi g. 4
fi g. 5
fi g. 6
extension
drill bit
normal saddle:
drill fl oor
short saddle:
drill side wall
jeweler’s screwdriver
