Have you ever had the outer strings of your vintage Stratocaster slip off the edge of the fretboard while you’re playing?

This is because some 50s and 60s Strats may have tiny variations in fretboard width. 

The typical vintage Stratocaster guitar string spacing is supposed to be 2-7/32 inches. But in some cases, this string spacing varies slightly. In addition, the variation is not the same from instrument to instrument.

In such cases, the outer strings (low E and high E) are too close to the edge and tend to slip off the fretboard area — which not only makes playing difficult but also affects the notes.

The solution to this problem lies in the “middle width” guitar saddles.

• The vintage Strat saddle width is 0.441” (11.2 mm) for 2-7/32 inches string spacing.
• The contemporary S-style guitar saddle width (0.413” or 10.5 mm) for 2-1/16 inch string spacing started showing up in the 1980s Asian imports. 
• After that, a new “middle width” S-style guitar saddle emerged, which is between the vintage and the contemporary saddle widths.

This “middle width” saddle (0.425” or 10.8 mm) is the solution because it brings the outer strings on a vintage Strat a tiny bit closer and prevents them from slipping off the edge of the fretboard. 

Give it a try.