Highwood Guitar Parts HG-10,50 Vintage Saddles

I bought these saddles to replace the ones in my Fender American Strat.

The issue I had is the most common one... when your guitar is very good and allows you to lower the action a lot, you get the saddle screws protruding from the saddle... which causes immediate discomfort when playing with palm mutes.

Another common issue with traditional Fender bent saddles, is that the saddles have no notch for the strings to stay exactly on the same place... after some time, you start getting overtones and strange pinging and vibration sounds on the unwound strings.

Highwood guitars bring you a lot of advantages:
- Saddles have two points where each screw passes through, meaning that the screws can be MUCH shorter than the traditional ones without risking no contact with the saddle.
- Each saddle has a notch that keeps the string in place, so no more overtones or having to lubricate the saddle point of contact
- Saddles seem to be much more sturdy, as well as the screws... this results in a much bigger and more stable contact surface between the saddles and the bridge itself (they don't move around anymore)

One of the best upgrades you can make on a Standard/Pro American Fender (as well as Mexican and even other brands. Just make sure you select the correct spacing for your guitar. (BTW, modern Fenders, both mexican and american, use the 10.50 spacing)

Installed this on my Fender stratocaster custom shop 60, Mexico made. Perfect match. Much better look than original vintage ones. Not to mention no more palm hurt.
But thats not all.
I didn't change strings at the same time because I wanted to see if there is any improvement in sound comparing to original fender ones. THERE IS a change in sound. Subtle one but to me very positive and audible. There are no more piercing high sounds as with originals. It's like there is more definition in tone, clarity. But when I used tremolo this saddles start to shine. I never ever heard sound like this on my strat when I was using tremolo. I hear all strings, every tone, so many harmonics. I was so thrilled. It's hard for me to explain the sound so I will tell you something you all can understand "I was blind now I can see". That sound. :)
If I buy more fender type guitars this saddles will instantly be installed on them.

They fit nicely onto my AM Pro II strat. (HG-10,50 saddles. 10.5mm wide)

I've seen other comments about some difficulty with the thread alignment on the intonation screws which I noticed a bit too, but I've used the original screws from the fender saddles these replaced. The colour of the Highwood screws and springs are darker, so to keep the look I left those in the box. The fender intonation screws threaded in nicely to the Highwood saddles and it all looks really good. I recommend them but haven't tested for any tonal difference yet.

The reason I replaced the fender saddles with these, is that the string spacing wasn't consistent, and also after bending the top e-string in play, it would sometimes catch and pull the fender saddle down when releasing the bend, and out of it's alignment with the others. I don't think that will happen any more.

All the best

I use this product on my Fender Player Strat and it is a drop in replacement.

The product itself is crafted well and delivers what it promises. I made a mistake in building up this product after reading all the raging reviews.

Is it a good product? Yes it is. The saddles are crafted well and they look good, but most of all they feel very, very comfortable.

Will it transform your guitar tonally? Not so much. Yes there might be some subtle changes but be aware that we are talking about nuances. I think my ears are average and yours might be too, so don't expect a huge difference.

Pro: Great product that delivers on its promise and looks good.
Con: It's easy to get carried away by raging reviews. While it has nothing to do with the product as such, it can cause dissapointment considering the price.

I recommend this product to players who are looking for more comfort or have saddles which cause discomfort and to players looking for aesthetic upgrade.

I've never been a fan of the Fender bent bridge saddles, the screws are uncomfortable when palm muting and they have little in the way of a groove for the string. I was concerned that the Highwood saddles would be too wide for my MIM strat (ca 2010), but they were a perfect drop in fit and easy to install and intonate.
They are more comfortable than the Fender originals, but still not as comfortable as block saddles (like the one on the PRS Custom 24), but a worthy upgrade if you like the vintage look and are annoyed by the standard height adjustment screws. I could not detect any change in tone or sustain but they are a step up in comfort levels, so 4 stars.

I've installed them on my MIM 2021 strat. The original ones sounded very nice, but I had some intonation issues. I also had a "dull" E-string sound (bass side) problem, and wanted to try the Highwoods. In the same time I installed fender's locking tuners (must say). I really don't have any intonation problems no more. And the bass e-string is now perfect. As for the sound, if not better, it's perfect. No more complaints at all with my strat. I totally recommend the product, and Thomann's perfect service as well. (Tip: The mim-strat original saddles are on a standard 2018 squier tele (indonesian) and the sound is lovely now. There's also no "dull-string" problems on the tele, don't know why, won't ask)