INSTALLING THE JLD BRIDGE SYSTEM PART 6: BREAKING IN THE JLD BRIDGE SYSTEM Once you've adjusted the soundpost, string the guitar up (remember that of all the things you can do for a guitar's sound quality, putting on new strings is probaby the easiest and most effective). It may take an hour or so of playing to "play the guitar in," but there should be immediate improvements in the bass register and more evenness of string response. As you play the guitar over a few hours, the midranges will become richer and the guitar will lose the "compressed" sound it had after the JLD Bridge System was first installed. If you've just fixed a warped top, you may need to replace the saddle. Often, saddles get filed down as the top slowly comes up. Now that the top is fixed, you can start with a new, tall saddle. The benefit of this is that the strings will break over the saddle (the strings won't really "break." The "break angle" refers to the angle at which the strngs bend as they cross the saddle and head down the fingerboard.) at a steeper angle. They push harder against the guitar top and transfer more vibration to the top. Use bone or a synthetic such as corian or TusqTM. Plastic is not a good saddle material. Remember that a newly fixed top will have to "learn" to be flat all over again. The guitar may sound nasal for a while until the top settles back in and some of the pressure is relieved. If you're patient, the instrument will ultimately sound better than it ever did before. The more you play the guitar, the faster this transformation will occur. It's a bit like getting a new guitar that sounds "green" until it's had a chance to open up.