Bone or Plastic?

[Sefton419]

Does my 2005 Tacoma D55 have a bone nut and saddle? I would only hope so, being that the D55 is the "Flagship" Dred... But I have heard people say its plastic. So whatta you say... Bone or Plastic? :?:

And here are some pictures of her

 

[cjd-player]

Use the hot needle test.

Heat the end of a needle and touch it to a part of the saddle. If it is bone, nothing will happen.
If it is plastic the needle will melt it.

 

[Sefton419]

Use the hot needle test.

Yeah, this test worked for my pins which thankfully are bone pins! But I don't want to mess with the nut like that. It could leave an unattractive divot... I know that would answer the question, but I rather be told than have to figure it out :lol:

 

[jazzmang]

AFAIK, all fairly recent D55s have bone nuts and saddles, but I could be mistaken...

 

[J45dale]

Tacoma Specs say you have a Bone Nut and Saddle. For that matter, so does my Corona built D55. But they could have added by the first owner who was quite a tinker, he added ebony pins and tuning machine knobs, which look great.
Dale.

 

[BluesDan]

Is it just the pic or is that saddle cracked between the 5th & 6th strings?

 

[Sefton419]

Is it just the pic or is that saddle cracked between the 5th & 6th strings?

I checked the saddle over... and I could find no cracks between the 5th and 6th. I was a bit worried there!!

 

[BluesDan]

Is it just the pic or is that saddle cracked between the 5th & 6th strings?

I checked the saddle over... and I could find no cracks between the 5th and 6th. I was a bit worried there!!

Good news. Must just be the pic. Sorry to get you worried. I thought I saw a crack in the saddle right where I circled:

 

[Mr. P ~]

Just looking I would say that is bone, because it doesn't have the sheen that the plastic has.

Here is a way to be certain.

1. Loosen the strings on your D-55 and pull the saddle out and take it to the music store.

2. Buy a plastic saddle blank of the same thickness as your saddle (or borrow one), and a bone saddle blank.

3. Go to a Plate Glass counter in the store and listen carefully to the sound when you drop the plastic saddle blank on the glass counter top, then do the same with the Bone saddle blank. Repeat as many times as you need to to determine the differences in the tone the saddle makes when it strikes the counter.

4. Now drop your saddle blank on the glass, it should be completely obvious to you at that point which one you have.


..........of course you could just ask the dealer you bought it from!!

 

[wooglins]

Get a single led flashlight, or some other very focused light source that has a very tight beam and shine it at the nut and the saddle. Plastic is very smooth in its transluscense, whereas bone with have quite abit of variation. It is really easy to tell. I have had plastic, tusq, and bone, and all three have a different appearance when viewed that way.

 

[chazmo]

I don't know about the nut, but I'm pretty sure my 2006 F-512 has a bone saddle. I think Tacoma started doing this when they moved to compensated saddles (but I'm not sure). I haven't done the hot-pin test, but my saddle does not have a sheen to it.

That said, I've seen bone that's pretty polished and looks like plastic... It's just the other direction in this case.