The subject:

This is an Alvarez Model No. 5047, owned by a good friend of mine.  As You may see in this catalog picture, it had one of those height adjustable saddles consisting of a notched metal bar with a thumb screw at each end, and a thin strait uncompensated plastic saddle in the notch.

The problem:

Since this guitar was made back in 1975 it had been through all kinds of weather, and the top was warped enough that the saddle could not be lowered enough to make a good action, and contrary to tradition it is not a good practice to steam bend the top back into flat, as it will just re-warp in a few months.  Making a new top altogether can cost more than a whole new guitar, but there is a method that will do the trick, and last for years to come, and that is what I did.  I did this job sometime in 2006, but since it had some other major problems, it came back to me again in 2014, so I decided to feature it here.

The cure:

Since the old saddle could not be lowered enough, and it not being of "sound design" in the first place, I had to make a new one, and chose Corian as the material.  he following pictures show this strange looking device, and in the first set it shows how I made it easy to remove, as it had to be quit low to restore a good action.  By pushing down on the treble side it raises the bass side out of its groove in the bridge, because the bottom is tapered near the edge.  On the base side there is a notch for a fingernail to lift it out.  Making it this way allowed me to remove it repeatedly with ease, in order to compensate the intonation using a file.

This next set of pictures are a few different views of the saddle, from the top down:  1, Here You can see how it is notched for intonation.  2, I scalloped in between the string notches, just to give it a cool look, and added some wood shims that are soft enough to force the bottom to conform to the uneven bottom of the saddle groove, which is the top of the guitar, which was warped.  This makes sure that the saddle makes good contact under all strings, so they can all ring evenly without dead notes.  3, A front view with it inserted into its groove, it fits without play in any direction, and without binding either.  4, Since it is so much lower than the original saddle, I notched out the bridge for each string in order to reestablish the necessary angle the strings need, so they do not come off of the saddle, and also put enough pressure on it to ring loud and clear, and it does that really well.

Some more info:

Corian is a material that kitchen counter tops and some other stuff are made of.  It is more durable, and denser than bear bone, and has much more even grain.  It keeps its color and will not fade or yellow over time, but may be found in a variety of groovy colors when intended for kitchens, normally resembling marble and other stone fairly well.  The following pictures show the installed saddle and the low action.