My process for aging Bensonite brass telecaster saddles
1. Get a medium size Tupperware container with a lid.
2. Place inside a small cup of vinegar.
3. Put a scotchbrite pad in the container for your saddles to sit on.
4. Use a paper towel or old tshirt to thoroughly clean off any finger oils on saddles. This is important, don’t skip this step.
5. Place the saddles on the scotchbrite pad not touching each other and facing up. The scotchbrite pad keeps them out of the puddles of vinegar that will accumulate.
6. Place the lid on in container and let it sit for 5-6 days. The vinegar vapors will darken and etch into the surface of the brass. The longer you leave it the more dramatic the effect.
7. After a few days you’ll see little dark spots all over the brass where the vinegar vapor is eating into the metal.
8. When you think they’re ready, remove them and scrub them lightly with OOOO steel wool. This will remove the little spots. The steel wool also adds a bit of shine, otherwise they have a pretty dull matte look.
9. After that scrub them with dish soap and an old toothbrush to remove any other residue.
10. To age the hardware just place all the screws and springs on your oven top it or a heating pad on high temp for a minute or so. The 18-8 stainless steel will turn a golden brown color without causing any kind of corrosion. Use needle nose pliers to remove them and cool them off in a cup of water so you don’t burn yourself.
11. Dry everything off and assemble and you have cool looking aged set of saddles!
12. Just FYI, this is more of an art than a science. If you age a set of 3 saddles I can’t guarantee that all three pieces will be perfectly matching when they’re done. Make sure they all go in clean and leave them in there a long time, a week at least is what I usually go for. Also, if you remove them too early before the vapors can etch into the surface, the darkening effect will rub off over time and they won’t look as cool. Time is your friend. Good luck!

Yes! Check out this video from my buddy Cody clearly demonstrating the tonal differences between brass and stainless steel saddles. Also please subscribe to his channel, he has some great content!

Do compensated saddles really work? I'm glad you asked.

The quick answer is yes, they will improve your intonation. Period.

Now for the long nerdy overly detailed explanation concerning why you need them:

You need compensated saddles because vintage style 3 barrel saddles can’t give you proper intonation. Proper intonation means every note on every string up and down the fret board is in tune (or close enough that you can’t hear the difference).
​
Many factors contribute to a guitars intonation. For example; the quality of the nut slots, the placement and roundness of the frets, the grip of the player, the age of the strings, the height of the strings off the fretboard (action), and my main topic today, bridge/saddle compensation.
View the bridge on almost any guitar; the saddles aren’t arranged in a straight line perpendicular to the strings. Instead they’re slanted with the Low E saddle furthest from the fretboard, and the high E saddle closest. The position of the saddle determines the vibrating length (from nut to saddle) of each string. This length is critical, and it’s different for every string, here’s why:
A longer string creates a lower note than a shorter string of the same thickness and tightness. With your guitar in tune you can pluck your open 6th string and it will make an E. Then if you pluck it again but hold the string down at the 8th fret it will make a C. It makes a higher note because you shortened the vibrating length of the string the correct amount to produce that C.
But what if the saddle is moved back 1/2 an inch? You’ve now increased the vibrating length and 8th fret won’t give you a C anymore. Because it’s the vibrating length (fret to saddle) of the string, not the fret itself, that produces the note.
Now, when your string lengths are only slightly off your notes might sound just fine in the first or second position, but as you play further up the neck your notes (and especially your chords) will start to sound off.
Setting intonation means making sure the total vibrating length (nut to saddle) of each string is correct so all of your frets can shorten the string by the right amount, and produce notes that are in tune.

So what about a vintage style telecaster?
Once you understand everything I’ve explained above, take a look at a vintage style telecaster bridge. Instead of 6 individual saddles, or a slanted 1 piece saddle like an acoustic, it has 3 straight cylinder shaped “barrel” saddles with 2 strings on each barrel, the EA, DG, and BE.
See the problem here? Each string needs its own specific length, but on these 3 barrel saddles the two strings on each saddle will always be exactly the same length. So if you adjust the first saddle so it’s just right for the E string, the A string will be off, and if you fix the A string the E will be off.
At best, with a vintage style 3 saddle bridge you can sort of compromise with each saddle and go for a somewhat in between position, so both strings are slightly out of tune...
No thank you.

This is where compensated saddles come in. They have the same look and feel of traditional vintage saddles, but the contact points are shifted to compensate for the intonation problem.
For your EA saddle the E contact point is shifted back slightly, and the A contact point is shifted slightly forward. Same for the BE saddle. The DG is reversed due to the shift from the wound D to the unwound G.
With compensated saddles and a good setup you can achieve “perfect” intonation (by perfect I mean close enough that your ears wont hear the problem anymore) and still have a guitar that looks, sounds, and feels like a vintage telecaster.

Whether you buy from me, or any of the other great hardware manufacturers, realize that until you get compensated saddles you’re missing out on how good your guitar can sound.
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Wow did you read this entire thing?!? Thanks for your time, have a nice day

A customer sent me this video today. Great review from a YouTuber.

I enjoy guitar/gear forums, and I’d say 98% of the participants are cool, helpful, and fun to chat with. But occasionally we find a few interesting individuals who can make the experience slightly less than perfect. These are in no particular order. Let me know if I missed any. 😁

1. The "I won't answer your question because you're asking the wrong question" guy
What you need to know is always trumped by what he needs you to know.

2. The over-explainer
Why post a short paragraph when a full dissertation will suffice? (I’m guilty of this one, read my blog post about compensated saddles, I apologize ahead of time)

3. The guy who answers every question with “just practice more”…
🙄

4. The "let me link you to five previous threads because heaven forbid we discuss THIS again" guy.
-Bless his heart, he’s just be trying to save you time. But regardless, next time you encounter this guy immediately ask for his opinion on tone woods 😂

5. The mod who is definitely the president of his homeowners association.
It’s a tough job but someone’s gotta overdo it.

6. The angry for no apparent reason guy
This guy is pissed and nobody knows why. His usual habitat is the comment section of a YouTube video, but he visits us from time to time. Maybe his dog died, maybe his girlfriend left him for a bass player, maybe his bass player left him for a Nickelback cover band. Nobody knows, tread lightly.

7. The guy whose response is so off topic you wonder if he read beyond the OP’s title.
This guy is at his best when he’s slightly peeved. And even better when you ask him if he actually read your post and he replies that he doesn’t have time to read everything on the internet…

8. The “my age qualifies my opinion” guy
This dude has played guitar longer than you’ve been alive. And don’t forget it.

😁

My latest project:
The neck is a Warmoth roasted maple with a compound radius rosewood fretboard, a boatneck carve, and narrow tall frets. The body is a 2 tone burst from a Fender Vintera 50s tele with a nice cream colored 3 ply pickguard. I upgraded to a set of Lollar Vintage T pickups, and of course it has a set of aged Bensonite compensated saddles. I plan on replacing the pots and maybe installing a 4 way switch as well. To say the least, I’m totally loving it.

But with aftermarket pickups, neck, electronics, and hardware, is it now by definition a partscaster?

I don’t care for that term. Partscaster has a negative connotation. When I hear “partscaster” I think of an ugly guitar, Jerry-rigged together with tape and bandaids by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, and later listed for double its value on Reverb.

I refuse to call my guitar a partscaster. My guitar is a custom tele. I selected the components, finished the neck, crowned and leveled the frets (I’m an amateur but it turned out pretty good), put it together and set it up and it’s GREAT. It’s not perfect, but it’s mine and I love it.

My friend Chris has a custom thinline tele that he put together a couple years ago. It’s beautiful. Roasted maple neck with a compensated nut and stainless steel frets (pleked). Tastefully aged blue body with a pearloid pickguard, a set of Seymour Duncan antiquity II pickups, and perfectly set up with a set of aged brass Bensonite Saddles. It is probably the best tele I’ve ever played. The action is low with zero buzz, the frets are incredibly smooth, it weighs like 6 lbs, and it sounds amazing. It’s a work of art, and the thought of calling his custom thinline a “partscaster” is straight up ridiculous.

So who is with me? Let’s get rid of this stupid word. Your guitar that you customized and designed to your exact specs is awesome and belongs in a category that doesn’t imply being lessor than.

Anyway, happy Saturday y’all. Keep on rockin in the free world.

​Traditional 3 barrel saddles can’t give you proper intonation. Proper intonation means every note on every string up and down the fret board is in tune (or close enough for the human ear that you can’t hear any problems).
Many factors contribute to a guitars intonation. For example; the quality of the nut slots, the placement and finish of the frets, the grip of the player, the age of the strings, the height of the strings off the fretboard (action), and my main topic today, bridge/saddle compensation.
Check the bridge on almost any guitar; the saddles aren’t arranged in a straight line perpendicular to the strings. Instead they’re slanted at an angle so the each saddle is a different distance from the nut. The point at which each string rests on the saddle determines the vibrating length (from nut to saddle) of each string. This length is critical, and it’s different for every string, here’s why:
Thickness and tightness being the same, a longer string will create a lower note than a shorter string. Pluck the low E string on your guitar and you get a low note, usually an E depending on your tuning. Now pluck it again while fretting the 12th fret and you get an E one octave higher. The reason the note is higher is because you have shortened the vibrating length of the string. Shorter strings maker higher notes.
But what if the saddle is adjusted so it’s 1/8th an inch further from the fret board? You’ve now increased the vibrating length, which will lower the pitch and now that same 12th fret is giving you a very flat sounding E. Because remember, it is the vibrating length (fret to saddle) of the string, not the fret itself, that produces the note.
Now, when your string lengths are only slightly off your notes might sound just fine in the first or second position, but as you play further up the neck your notes (and especially your chords) can start to sound slightly off.
So having your intonation set correctly means getting each saddle in the right spot, so that the vibrating length determined by each fret is as accurate as possible, giving you the most in tune notes up and down the neck.
So what about a vintage style telecaster?
Once you understand everything I’ve explained above, take a look at a vintage style telecaster bridge. Instead of 6 individual saddles, or a slanted 1 piece saddle like an acoustic, it has 3 straight cylinder shaped “barrel” saddles with 2 strings on each barrel.
See the problem here? Each string needs its own specific length, but on these 3 barrel saddles the two strings on each saddle will always be exactly the same length. So if you adjust the first saddle just right for the E string, the A string will off, and then if you fix the A string the E will be off. At best you can compromise with each saddle and go for a somewhat in between position, so both strings are only slightly out of tune. No thank you.
This is where compensated saddles come in. They have the same look and feel of traditional vintage saddles, but the contact points are slightly shifted to compensate for the intonation problem.
For your EA saddle the E contact point is shifted back, and the A contact point is shifted forward. Same for the BE saddle. The DG is reversed due to the transition from the wound D to the unwound G. These offset contact points are very subtle but it makes all the difference.
With compensated saddles and a good setup you can achieve “perfect” intonation (and again, by perfect I mean close enough that your ears wont hear the problem anymore) and still have a guitar that looks, sounds, and feels like a vintage telecaster.
There are all kinds of compensated saddles out there that work just fine. I make a set that I believe is superior to other designs both in the accuracy of the offsets, as well as the more comfortable feel under the hand. But whether you buy from me or someone else, consider setting up your tele with compensated saddles so it can intonate properly and sound as good as possible.
Thanks for reading, have a great day