Black tusq or normal plastic nut, saddle on nylon?

[Hamad Rajab]

Greetings fellows

I recently bought a used nylon string Yamaha APX9NA, which plays and sounds very lovely. I have a pair of Graph tech Black tusq nut and saddle that i never used and thinking of putting them on my Yamaha.

I kept graph tech nut and saddle of two guitars and what a difference, more sound richness and sustain!! on an Ovation acousitc and an old Yamaha C40. Big difference.

So what do you think guys? should i take the step and do it?

http://s1045.photobucket.com/user/Ha...ufagh.jpg.html

Heres an image of my Yamaha crossover APX9NA.

Regards
Hamad

[redir]

If you think it sounds and plays good now then why bother? Tusq is great stuff but imho black won't look right on the guitar. That is of course if looks matter to you at all. It is a guitar after all, and sound is obviously more important then looks.

On the other hand if you are handy with needle files and have the necessary skills to make a new nut and saddle then it can't hurt to try especially if the Tusq stuff will just continue sitting there collecting dust. IF you don't like it then you can always go back.

My guess however though is that if you like the guitar the way it is now then making the change won't really make a difference.

[Hamad Rajab]

Thanks redir, i just wanted to hear a little thought from more experienced players, the sound right now is not as rich as my other guitar with the black tusq on so i guess i'll just take it to a local Luther to carve the nut&saddle..

Regards,
Hamad

[martingitdave]

I usually play around with saddles when I get a new guitar. The conventional wisdom is that nuts don't improve sound much, if at all. So, if it is a well fitted nut, then it is doing its job, and I typically leave it alone.

[redir]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

I usually play around with saddles when I get a new guitar. The conventional wisdom is that nuts don't improve sound much, if at all. So, if it is a well fitted nut, then it is doing its job, and I typically leave it alone.

I tend to agree. I always make bone nuts because it's the best imho none the less but probably more importantly is it will last the longest. Of course some of the synthetics like Tusq are very good too. Tonally the nut is only important on the open strings anyway so it doesn't have as much impact on tone as the saddle.

[Hamad Rajab]

Thanks bro, i'm a strong believer that tone primarily comes from the hands, apart from tone. Black Tusq gave a better tuning stability to my other Yamaha not necessarily better look but i had to do it. sorry if this doesn't make sense.