Has anybody experimented with different bridge pins or saddles on a cf acoustic?

[studioman001]

Hi. Just wondering if any of you out there have experimented with different bridge pins and/or saddles on a cf guitar? An X20 in particular but feedback concerning any cf guitar would still be appreciated.

Perhaps there was talk of this on the MacNichol forum... (On a side note, why didn't someone archive that forum? So much information lost!)

I know it can make a big difference concerning wooden instruments but does changing them effect the tone and projection of a cf instrument?

[NoodleFingers]

I put some buffalo horn pins from Bob Colosi in my RainSong. I don't hear a difference, but I think they look sharp.

Once I've got another 12-fret to play while it's in the shop, I plan on having a bone saddle and nut made for it and getting it Plek'ed. The action and intonation were very nice out of the factory, but I've always wanted to experience the ultimate in smooth, low action.

[Doubleneck]

I have a McNickol bone bridge in my JM 1000. I'm not sure it sounds that much different but I do think it is pretty and looks a little flatter radius which matches the flat 20" radius of the Rainsong.

I thought Michael was still doing set-ups, pins, nuts and saddles???

[Captain Jim]

I have a bone saddle from Michael on my RS Shorty. I, also, didn't notice much difference in tone. But, lower from the stock saddle, the Shorty plays even better than stock.

[sirwhale]

I've had bone in, but now have black tusq in again. Both sound pretty similar to me.

But, I did buy some ebony pins, and because of the slotted bridge I could swap the pins and get an (almost) immediate comparison in sound. Both my wife and I thought that the ebony soften the sound compared to the tusq pins.

[SpruceTop]

I'm all for leaving the Tusq saddle and bridgepins in a RainSong, especially all-carbon-fiber models, to get the most chime and crystalline tone from the guitars. I revel in the tone of carbon fiber and want its aural properties to be as unimpeded as possible. If I want woody tone, I have my fine all-solid-wood guitars to enjoy.

The only time I would want to try to warm-up the tone of a carbon-fiber/composite guitar, such as the Tim Stafford Signature Model Composite Acoustics Dreadnought I once owned for three days, would be if it was going to be played in a bluegrass band. The Tim Stafford already sounded kind of warm due to its partial composite construction and the carbon-fiber bracing of its carbon-fiber top, but for bluegrass, I could understand some players wanting to try to make it sound more wood-toned. If I had kept The Tim, I would have left it as is with its Tusq saddle and bridgepins..

I'm no expert on sound vibrational propagation and transmission, and although many people seem to want to jettison Tusq from their guitars, I feel Tusq is a wonderful material for use in stringed musical instruments.

[tdq]

A while back I tried a range of the obligatto saddles on my CA GX. There was a bunch of options at the time, although now it seems there are two. I quite liked one of the options, although not enough to justify the cost in my opinion.
As for the MacNichol site, I'm pretty sure someone did make an archive at the time but not sure who or where, but it was someone on this forum.