Les Paul saddles

If they were the stock saddles, look very closely at them using magnification and you'll be able to put them in order, fattest string to skinniest string.

Also pay attention to the angle at which the string slot is cut into the top of each saddle; there should be a slight 'ramp' that runs downward toward the stop tailpiece. This makes for clean noting and reduces the chances of the string buzzing in the slot.  Each string should ride over the top of each saddle--not be buried deep in a slot.  If the slots are gunky or corroded, use the proper gauge nut file to just clean out the gunk; don't remove metal.

Also also note that it is common to reverse the G string's saddle to get a bit more distance for intonation adjustment:

^^ Like ^^

Thanks for the additional tips.

I was heavy handed when I started playing out. I moved around a lot too. My first band when I was 15/16 was in the Hardcore genre. I discovered that strap locks were a necessity for me. I broke strings often back then. After I put graph tech saddles on my 1997 Am. Standard Tele back then I never broke another string. So naturally I put them on everything after that. Last night,  I opened up another box I haven’t seen since moving into this house and I found a set of graph tech saddles that I once installed on my ~2002 G&L ASAT Classic Bluesboy Semi-hollow. That was the guitar that I discovered I no longer needed Graph Techs. The 2000 Les Paul has been largely neglected because I am convinced that I am a Fender guy. I’m trying to setup my LP to be more appealing to me today because it’s kind of a waste if it just hangs on the wall. I’m going to try top-wrapping the strings too. I’m also not in love with the Harmonic Design pickups that are in there now. I want to go vintage PAF style now. 

Both of my gibsons got aluminum bridges with brass saddles this year. Made quite a difference in both cases. I'm also using the "skinny top, heavy bottom" strings (or whatever they're called) as I don't like the floppiness that you can usually count on from the lower strings on shorter scale guitars.

Another thing to try (assuming your LP has humbuckers) if you haven't already; lower the pickups. Seems most info you'll get on the web still clings to the notion that you're supposed to have them set pretty close to the strings. That can make your LP pretty boomy, (especially the neck pup) which cam be pretty harsh to your ears if they're more used to single coils. I usually start with the neck pup pretty close to flush with the mounting ring and go from there.

As to your original question, I got one of my gibsons this fall and it came with saddles that someone had done a hack job on. It was a buzzy mess. I tried to fix them but ultimately gave up and got a new bridge. From what I can tell, you wanna keep from making the slots too deep and make sure that the break-point is on the leading edge of each saddle. Sounds so simple...

+1

I have the pickups on this LP lowered into the rings and it sounds amazing. The neck pickup is sweet and clear and bridge pickup gets twangy; sounds like a Telecaster that drank three cups of coffee.

I like the pickup height suggestion as well, and would also add adjusting the individual pole pieces. String-to-string volume balance might not be a perceptible problem most of the time, but when you dial it in, the whole pickup tends to just sound better.

Yup, I remember dialing in the perfect string-to-string balance back when this was my #1. I'm sort of starting over with this guitar. In the meantime I did lower the pickups and gained clarity and lost the mud. I'm going to try to keep these pups to the best of my ability. I also removed the pickgaurd to change it up a little bit. Wife is making us hike again today before it starts raining. Can't wait to get some alone time in the house, whenever that may be...

Here's a pic from today. I always gravitated toward burgundy colored guitars back then (and hated blue). Now I welcome blue and wish this LP was a burst or a gold top, which would have cost more and this was already a stretch for me back then. Thank goodness for Saul at Centre City music back then, where 50% off list was the norm.

A famous tech goober years ago used to set the screw slots in a Les Paul like this:

/ \ / \ / \

so now some techs and players believe that pattern has something to do with making the guitar sound better. Just like with three springs in the back of a Strat set like this:

/|\

It has absolutely no benefit to the sound or feel--no matter what anyone might have you believe. The Strat spring thing came from a pic a photographer at a gig snapped of the back of Hendrix's Strat (he left the rear plate off his Strats) and the springs were arranged in that "A" pattern. Guitarists the world over assumed this was part of the magic. Nope. Hendrix's mojo came from practice, and guitarists are basically lazy. Why waste time practicing whan you can just buy good tone?

When I tweak the pickups, I start by raising the adjustable poles so they match the radius of the strings over the pickup. Next I set the amp to play very clean at a loud volume, and tweak the overall height of the pickup to get the tone and response I prefer. It is critical that you spend no more than about 30 minutes at a stretch doing this because of ear fatigue. Work with it, take a break for about an hour, and then come back to it. Seems like a tediouss way to do it, but it does pay off.

Lastly I listen for string-to-string volume balance and tweak the individual heights of the screw poles. Generally, the one I move the most is the G string because it has a really small core wire which usually requires raising the pole.  Sometimes the B pole gets lowered too.

I forgot about that. I used to hear that so often that my eyes would roll into my head so far I'd get a headache. I think his rationale was blah blah blah flux lines or something.

My pickup height routine: (kinda long, sorry)

- know what "too close" sounds like. It is that funny warble. If you don't know what it is, adjust them super close so you do know, then you can know when you're too close. Knowing what it sounds like means that it will be something you can't un-hear and that will be very helpful.

- rough out individual pole pieces by eye.

- Adjust bridge pickup to taste. I try to get the volume so a chord (jazzy chord extensions work well) has the high notes sort of sitting on top of the low notes. If I play one at a time and go for equal volume, I end up adjusting the treble side too low. Maybe that is just my ears.

- Adjust the neck pickup to have roughly the same volume as the bridge pickup. Sometimes if the neck is too weak or the bridge too hot it is a compromise game, so use your judgement. I'll generally do this just with the low E and A strings, and then match the trebles to the bass the same way I did with the bridge pickup.

- If it has adjustable poles, I play each note in succession and adjust for volume. You won' get it perfect, but you can improve. On most guitar string sets you have the low E and G lowest, the A and B higher, and the D and high E just a bit higher than that. With a wound G the G will need to be pretty high and the B dropped pretty low. The pole piece heights will mimic the intonation of the saddles - strings that need to be set far back will have lower pole pieces and vice versa. I try to look at how high the slugs are in relation to the screws, assuming the rings/guard aren't perfectly parallel to the strings. That lets me decide a very rough middle reference point, so the slugs and screws will be roughly equidistant from the string. For example, if the screw side of the neck pickup is naturally lower than the slug side, I'll have the screws sunken down a bit lower into the cover than usual.

- Wash, rinse, repeat if necessary.

Very few players will care about the individual string balance*, but my experience is that if you set them carefully the pickup just sounds better even if you're just chopping barre chords.

*(The way too high G on a vintage stagger Strat would seem like a great example of great tone and no one caring about string balance, but Strat blues players, a la SRV also use the G for the more dramatic parts of their phrasing, and it might not be completely coincidental. That's another thread, though.)

Never seen one of those before, cool! Like a PRS without the (to me) annoying headstock.

I have a set of that style mini in one of my guitars, an old Gibson set. I find them overly trebly and harsh sounding. I have a few different versions of the Firebird-style that I like very much.

Just tried editing this but it wouldn't let me. Should read: "For example, if the screw side of the neck pickup is naturally lower than the slug side, I'll have the screws sunken down a bit lower into the cover than usual.

Justin,

That G&L is beyond cool!

My revamped Les Paul is all finished since I started this thread. I swapped out the Graph Tech saddles for the original ones. I filed each slot a little bit with my nut files to remove any burrs and I have not broken a string yet. While I was at it I swapped out the tail piece to an aluminum one. I polished the gunk off of the pickups and bridge to match better. I also switched out the plastics with lighter cream colored ones. The stock ones were pinkish and the pickup rings were deformed. I had to sand the neck ring down and re-shape it to the body curve. The way it sat was at an awkward angle so I had to shave off about 2mm from the headstock end of the ring. I also had a cracked poker chip that I replaced with an Allparts one that is thin and flexible with an adhesive back. It's not following the countours of the body all the way but I'll give it some time and maybe a little heat. I treated the fretboard with about 5 applications of Fret Doctor. It soaked that stuff up like a sponge. It darkened up quite a bit and feels great. That stuff works much better than the D'Addario conditioner I had. All in all a very nice improvemnt but the inlays in the higher frets still look kinda bad for such a "nice" guitar. Some of the filler I mentioned looks to be on top of the inlays so it might be able to be polished or scraped away. You can see it if you zoom in on the photo. It's no beauty queen but it plays and sounds great. 

Mailman delivered the final touches today. I added reflector knobs. The old ones were cracked and these are reccessed so they sit closer to the body. Lastly I sprayed some Deoxit in the switch and tight scrathchy pots. That loosened things up quite a bit and now my bridge volume pot actually works. It used to go silent when backing down from 10.

The combination of the metal saddles and aluminum tailpiece put some much needed zing into the unplugged sound. I set the pickup height by ear and it sounds sweeter than ever. The neck position is no longer muddy and all positions have nice warmth and clarity. This is what I've been missing! My old LP just needed some tweaking and a little TLC. It's a joy to play now. With the new tailpiece the whole thing weighs 8.9 pounds - that's pretty nice if you ask me. 

I'm glad to hear you're loving it! "warmth and clarity" is exactly what an LP SHOULD sound like, though they often don't.