Advice on Tusq Saddle for '74 Guild

[lpa53]

Last fall my '74 Guild D-50 had bridge repairs made and while the luthier was doing the work I had him widen the original 3/32" saddle slot to take a modern compensated saddle (he used a bone saddle).

Since then I've also had a B-Band A2.2 system installed and have noticed that the B-string is louder than the others. The B-Band user's manual says that one of the reasons for this could be the bone ssaddle and they recommend using man-made material instead.

I'd like to try this but am confused about the many saddle offerings that Graphtech offers - some called "fully compensated" and others called "Taylor style". Does someone have a recommendation as to what 1/8" Tusq saddle would be best for a '74 Guild?

 

[Tony Burns]

This is a shot in the dark - Im not an expert on This particular situation-

My educated guess is maybe not the taylor style, because each particular maker has a different philosophy concerning scales lengths and how their figured -so their can be a very small amount of difference . I know how different makes favor different compensations per set-up . I think a plan saddle compensated for each string has to be made from scratch- theirs technical ways using an ocilascope or moving a small rod under each string on the saddle till the tonation is perfect ( marking it with a pencil and then cutting or filing the saddle ) .In all honesty unless your a great do it yourselfer -id have a decent luthier set it up .Im guessing you had the bridge slot widened because your had a Brazilian rosewood bridge you didnt want to loose and had some side wear from a tipping ill fitting saddle ( this is common - BR is softer than Ebony )- . Id give your luthier a call if your not gung ho about trying it -

By the way thats a super instrument you have -i own a '71 D-55 , which is very simalar and its one of the best guitars Ive ever played period !

 

[lpa53]

...Im guessing you had the bridge slot widened because your had a Brazilian rosewood bridge you didnt want to loose and had some side wear from a tipping ill fitting saddle ( this is common - BR is softer than Ebony )- . Id give your luthier a call if your not gung ho about trying it -

By the way thats a super instrument you have -i own a '71 D-55 , which is very simalar and its one of the best guitars Ive ever played period !

I'd tried to do compensation on the very thin original saddle but it didn't do much good, so when I found that the bridge itself had begun to lift off the top I took in into a luthier and asked him to widen the bridge slot while he was at it to allow it to take a more modern width saddle.

The bone saddle he put in is compensated and is pretty good (although I wish I also had a compensated nut, too) but I'd like to try a Tusq saddle just to see if it makes a difference like the B-Band folks suggest it would with their system. Graphtech does have a generic saddle called "fully compensated" and I could just try that. If it makes a difference in the loudness imbalance, but isn't intonated well, then I could ask the luthier to work on it.

The same luthier is working now on my old classical and when I pick it up I'll ask him how he makes his own saddles - if their off the shelf or if he intonates them himself.

What type of tuner would I need to be able to work on intonation myself? And what exactly is the procedure?

Oh, and thanks for the compliment on the D-50. I got in in college and never had to buy another - so far. :mrgreen: