Nut and Saddle material questions

[dogberry]

I recently got a 1997 D30, and am doing someTLC to bring it back to life, and have a question regarding the nut and saddle. The bridge pins appear to be plastic, but I can't tell what the nut and saddle are made of. I haven't been able to find any spec sheets on line that tell me. Does anyone know either what they were made of, or how I can figure this out myself? I know, I could just take it to a local luthier and ask him, but I'd like to be able to figure it out myself. Thanks for any help.

Dogberry

 

[Qvart]

I recently got a 1997 D30, and am doing someTLC to bring it back to life, and have a question regarding the nut and saddle. The bridge pins appear to be plastic, but I can't tell what the nut and saddle are made of. I haven't been able to find any spec sheets on line that tell me. Does anyone know either what they were made of, or how I can figure this out myself? I know, I could just take it to a local luthier and ask him, but I'd like to be able to figure it out myself. Thanks for any help.

Dogberry

hot needle. plastic melts.

 

[12stringer]

Hope this helps...If you drop a plastic saddle on the table it sounds well dull and plasticy...whereas a bone or tusq saddle have a bright glass like sound when dropped.
Just don't drop them to farr and risk breakage. :wink:

 

[hideglue]

Dog,
The D30 should be Micarta for both

 

[chicagowineguy]

Switch the pins, nut and saddle to bone. For under a 100 bucks its a great investment and a real improvement.

 

[hideglue]

Bone certainly has acclaimed properties, but, true to any organic material, those benefits are rarely consistent throughout. I prefer Tusq

 

[capnjuan]

Hi dogberry; not sure how far you intend to go with your remodeling but if you're going to mess with the nut, don't forget to figure in the cost of a set of nut files. Good luck with your project. CJ

 

[dogberry]

Thanks everybody, that's all very helpful. I'm replacing the pins now for sure, and eventually the nut and saddle. I think I'll have a local guitar guy, Dan Wilson at All Star Guitars, do the nut and saddle when I replace them. I figure I could either do it myself and then take it to Dan to do it right :roll:, or I can just take it to him in the first place. :wink:

I'm leaning to Tusq for the saddle and nut, but does anyone have a strong opinion one way or the other regarding Tusq vs. bone? As if there'd be strong opinions here. . . . :lol:

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

I prefer bone saddles myself. If the nut on your guitar is still in good shape, I would keep it as is, even if it's plastic.
A fully compensated bone saddle will give the most improvement to your guitar.

 

[12stringer]

don't forget to figure in the cost of a set of nut files. Good luck with your project. CJ

Karumba!

 

[capnjuan]

... I figure I could either do it myself and then take it to Dan to do it right :roll:, or I can just take it to him in the first place.

:lol: CJ

 

[JerryR]

Switch the pins, nut and saddle to bone. For under a 100 bucks its a great investment and a real improvement.

I did on my D35.

 

[Ian]

I changed the nut and saddle and pins on my D55 from crappy plastic ones to Tusq. Not sure it made a huge difference to the sound but it looks nicer....

 

[cuthbert]

Thanks everybody, that's all very helpful. I'm replacing the pins now for sure, and eventually the nut and saddle. I think I'll have a local guitar guy, Dan Wilson at All Star Guitars, do the nut and saddle when I replace them. I figure I could either do it myself and then take it to Dan to do it right :roll:, or I can just take it to him in the first place. :wink:

I'm leaning to Tusq for the saddle and nut, but does anyone have a strong opinion one way or the other regarding Tusq vs. bone? As if there'd be strong opinions here. . . . :lol:

For my "new" D-25 I purchased a set of pins, saddle and nut from Bobo Colosi, he's very respected in this environment:

http://www.guitarsaddles.com/products.asp

I personally chose vintage bone because my Guild is old, I like the yellowish colour of these parts. Tusq is just plain white, and I never tried it, while my CV-2Cs came with factory bone nut, saddle and pins, and I liked the material. By the way, the price is similar to Tusq. For all the comments about bone being inconsistent, this is true, that's the reason why I suggest to buy from somebody with a reputation among guitarists.

 

[adorshki]

Had bone nut and saddle installed with refret on my '96 D-25 at about 300 hours. Definitely improved the sustain.

 

[bluepen]

This might seem like a cop-out, but the answer is..."it depends". I'd recommend buying both saddles (tusq and bone) and trying each. Some folks are "all bone--all the time". But many have said, and I had this experience, on CERTAIN guitars bone is better and on others TUSQ is better. Of course this is further complicated by string selection and how broken-in the guitar is...

Good luck.