FINE-TUNE YOUR TELE

In the last issue of The Mod Squad we took a look at Fender’s single-coil polepieces, their stagger and their spacing. It’s certainly not the only element of Fender’s landmark designs that players and other makers have questioned over the years. The Telecaster’s bridge saddles are another design element that really annoys some, while others really couldn’t care less about it. What gives?

It’s all to do with intonation. Each string of your guitar sits above the fingerboard and frets. As the string is depressed to contact the fret it slightly sharpens. To compensate for this,