Nut (string instrument)

The saddle (English: Tongue ) is a narrow piece of material that is used at the transition between headstock and neck of the instruments across the front of the fingerboard or embedded therein at plucked and bowed string instruments. The purpose of the saddle is the safe operation of the strings on the fretboard. This is achieved by suitably incorporated into the saddle notches through which the strings and prevent the strings slipping across the fingerboard of their position. The saddle also has an influence on the string position of the instrument.

Production: Material and orientation

Materials commonly used for instrument saddles are relatively hard materials such as bones (usually bovine), graphite, various plastics, ebony and occasionally brass. The hardness of the material used has an influence on the sound and vibration character of the "empty", ie ungegriffen notes are played. The harder the material of the saddle, the more treble is the sound is not fretted, "empty" mock strings. However, the influence of the saddle on the sound not fretted strings is not always desirable. To match the sound of "empty strings " to the fretted strings, some instruments equipped with frets therefore have a right at the saddle mounted on the fretboard additional frets, the strings on the rest - the so-called " zero fret ".

Of importance for the optimum sound of stringed instruments is the fit of the saddle notches in width and depth. Are the notches too wide, the strings too much play, which complicates precise intonation. The saddle notches too narrow, they pinch the strings hindering the exact tuning of the instrument, or even impossible. Too shallow crafted saddle notches lead to a high string, which complicates precise gripping the strings, while too low a saddle notches unwanted contact of the strings to the fretboard or the first fret cause, causing unwelcome noises while playing the instrument ( " buzz "). Instrument makers therefore use for the precise and exact fitting made ​​of saddle notches special tools, the Nut Files.

Thus the strings with sufficient contact pressure to extend the saddle notches to the vertebrae or tuners, the peg box or the top plate is angled some string instruments backwards. This is particularly pronounced in kink -necked lutes, which peg box is at right angles approximately to the neck. With electric guitars and electric basses with non-angled headstock and arranged in a row tuners, it is common the pressure of the strings on the saddle by means of metal, screwed to the headstock string retainer (english: string trees ) to increase.

Special forms of instrument saddles

A special form of saddles, in some electric guitars with vibrato lever used ( for example, when Floyd Rose system ): here carries the metal-made saddle screws and clamps that secure each string in place ( locking nuts ). For a detuning of the instrument for tightening or loosening the string tension is prevented by vibrato. Another special form, which is also used in electric guitars with tremolo bar, is the role of the saddle. Here the strings instead of walking through the saddle notches on single movable rolls, which should also prevent a detuning of the instrument in use of the tremolo. Caused by the cylindrical shape of the rolls slightly less accurate contact surface of the strings can in roller saddles cause the Ausschwingdauer the strings being played is shortened.