Are these factory saddle shims?
They’re very small compared to the typical saddle shims I’ve seen online with the bolt holes:
They look like they may just cut-offs from a locking nut shim. This guitar is one of the older models with the Gotoh trem and it has a couple of very similar brass shims under the nut:
I figured maybe the techs doing the final setup at the EBMM factory just cut pieces from spare nut shims if they needed a saddle shim? After all, it’s not visible and so doesn’t need to be pretty – just functional! I guess my first question is – are these a factory thing that’s fine as a saddle shim or are they some janky solution the previous owner or some aftermarket tech came up with? If they’re not ideal, I’ll just get some of the proper saddle shims with the bolt holes in them.
Assuming they are fine to use… where should they go? Unfortunately, as I wasn’t expecting them, I didn’t notice exactly where they came from. Any idea if they would be fitted as standard for this model (perhaps to alter the radius of the bridge to match the fretboard?) or are they just fitted as and when needed to fine tune the setup of each guitar? If it’s to do with radius correction, I’m guessing they should be under the D and G strings? If they’re just to correct minor differences between each guitar, then I should be able to work it out when I go to set the guitar back up. Also, how far back under the saddle should they go? I’m thinking fairly far back otherwise they won’t raise the string height? Something like the below (but not sticking out obviously):
Any thoughts?
Source: http://forums.ernieball.com