Quote:
Originally Posted by gpj1136
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WW. I had no idea... Thanks.
I paid about $9 for
one TUSQ saddle blank and had to wait a week for it. I like how the TUSQ reduced the 'brittle' timbre of this particular guitar (original saddle was bone). Now it sounds richer or smoother, or fuller, or less harsh... So I'm not sure bone is what I need, but at $12 for 10 blanks, experimentation is certainly not a problem, and
Frank Ford's excellent advice will not have been in vain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gpj1136
Sawing the near nut is far more invasive then sanding a little off of a saddle. Here you could actually do some permanent damage so if you are having this much reservation sanding a saddle I suggest leaving the nut until you are more comfortable making adjustments.
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Good point, but that saw that
Frank and
John Arnold and
Charles Tauber suggest looks very controllable and makes a fine cut, and Frank's explanations/demonstrations always shake the fear off whatever procedures he covers, so I'm confident in making that narrow kerf behind the nut. The nut's coming off sooner or later anyway, because I want to make (or have made) a new nut with even spacing between the strings, and maybe push the Lo-E string slightly toward the fretboard edge.
And for the record, I don't have
reservations about sanding a saddle bottom. I've already sanded my brains out. I have reservations about having to buy another $9 blank, accurately transfer the "mystery radius" onto
two saddle blanks (yeah, it's a
split saddle and I can't seem to accurately determine the fretboard radius...), then shape those two TINY LITTLE
SLIVER saddles that are too small to hold while sanding...and THEN maybe make them too short
again. THAT's why I'm
cautious and why I want to know the best way to
shim up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gpj1136
After you modify the saddle you may be happy with the results not needing to work on the nut at all.
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The string heights for this nut are slightly higher than the string heights for its 'twin dreadnaught' (I have two), and the twin plays less stiffly, so sanding the nut bottom on this one seems like a reasonable 'next step'...no?