Individual Esquire saddles

Black17

Hi all. My 85 squire Mij tele has individual saddles instead of the bar type. With a 25 1/2 scale length, the adjustment screws will not let me sharpen the strings enough without the screw coming out of the saddle. I don't want to reposition the brass plate. Can I use longer screws? Will it hurt anything? I love my top loader and just want it to have the best intonation possible. Now I know it is a copy of a 59 which I did not know all these years. Thanks for any replies.

Black17

morroben

Nothing wrong with using longer screws. I assume your pictures are meant for reference, but just in case, you should set intonation with a tuner, not a ruler.

kgharper

Hi, Black17. The measurement from the nut to the 12th fret appears to be correct judging from the photo. So longer screws should do the job. You may have to stretch the springs or buy longer ones as well. As Morroben suggested ,,,check the intonation with tuner.
If there is excess bow in the neck, or back-bow that will also affect your intonation so adjust your truss rod before you changee the screws. Set your string action height too. The string height at the nut may be a factor as well.