Most production models now have a pair of black metal plates occupying a quarter inch deep cutaway portion of the fretboard extending inward from the inner headstock curve by 3/4 of an inch.

The upward sloping, V-shaped saddle grooves precisely and uniformly separate the strings, allowing all tunings to be set up as before. A shallow rocking tripod mechanism under each plate allows nut height adjustment for each string group, melody and bass sides separately.

String clearance over the first fret should in Stick fashion be set very low, but some might like the lower pitched melody or bass strings to have a bit more clearance. Such adjustments are now less complicated. A 1/16th inch hex wrench will smoothly raise or lower the inner or outer ends of either nut.

I invented and designed Flaps to make Stick setups easier, both for me at my setup station and for you whenever you have the urge to reset up or "fine tune" or totally reconfigure your instrument.

Two set screws in line with the saddle grooves act as adjustable legs to raise or lower each end of each nut. A single, centrally located fastener screw presses each plate down onto a thick rubber washer and is also height adjustable.

The result is a pair of plates that can be individually raised and lowered in all directions.

All the best,
Emmett
©EHC 2000