Tusq or Bone Saddle and Pins for my FG 700

[Athena's Dad]

Hi Everyone..........Novice.........FG 700......Awesome Action.....Good Chord Changes......Nut.....Saddle.......Within Specs......My FG 700 Sounds Awesome With EJ 17's .....Plastic Nut....Saddle....Pins......Want to upgrade.......What do you guys think ?

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by Athena's Dad

Sounds Awesome

Why? Fix something not broken?
Upgrading all that will also call for another setup, save the money in your new guitar day jar.

[D35burst]

....Sounds like you're having fun which is great. If the action and play-ability is good leave it alone.
I started out on a entry level yamaha (FG720s) myself and they're good starter units but not the sort of guitar you need to hot rod - save it for the next level....

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Athena's Dad

Hi Everyone..........Novice.........FG 700......Awesome Action.....Good Chord Changes......Nut.....Saddle.......Within Specs......My FG 700 Sounds Awesome With EJ 17's .....Plastic Nut....Saddle....Pins......Want to upgrade.......What do you guys think ?

Why do you think you need these upgrades?

[TNO]

A well-fitted bone saddle should give you less scooped mids and thicker trebles. I think those are good things on a FG700. Tusq would make it brighter, not needed on that guitar.

A bone saddle blank only costs a few dollars, it is very easy to make one yourself. I don't get the strong opinions about leaving the guitar stock.

[Ed-in-Ohio]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Why? Fix something not broken?
...snip...

+1. Different guitars respond differently to the various nut and saddle materials. You might find the new bone nut/saddle to sound the same, or to sound better, or to sound worse.

I've been disappointed by (or indifferent about) an upgrade to bone enough times to say that one should consider the upgrade only when one is disappointed with the current tone of the guitar.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Ed-in-Ohio

+1. Different guitars respond differently to the various nut and saddle materials. You might find the new bone nut/saddle to sound the same, or to sound better, or to sound worse.

I agree. To blithely state that adding bone appointments will generate specific tonal changes is to ignore how very individually different guitars can respond to these materials. Sometimes it might give you thus-and-such a sound, other times it might not.

Ed continued:

Originally Posted by Ed-in-Ohio

I've been disappointed by (or indifferent about) an upgrade to bone enough times to say that one should consider the upgrade only when one is disappointed with the current tone of the guitar.

I've been disappointed (or flat out disliked!) the tonal effect that bone appointments have had a few times, enough that I don't consider bone to be an automatic "upgrade." That said, it's usually an improvement, so it's a worthwhile experiment, whether you decide to keep the bone in there or not.

Just hang onto the original saddle until you know for certain whether you like the sound that the bone saddle gives you.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[lammie200]

I am liking my setups. Bone nut and saddle with tusq pins on my Martin and Nubone nut and saddle with tusq pins on my Tanglewood parlor. Good sustain on both.

[Finger Stylish]

I recently changed the bone nut, saddle, and plastic pins on my Nasally sounding 1976 D28 to Tusq. I was pleased with the result.
If you like the idea of experimenting. Do it. Like others have suggested , keep the old components for back up.

[gip111]

I like my FG 700 so much, I can't even think of changing its sound.

[El Cheapo]

Every guitar is different, but my FG700S showed a definite improvement in tone with the addition of a bone saddle. With the stock plastic saddle highs were muted (B and E strings). I changed to bone and got much better string to string balance and an increase in volume and sustain as well. Worked for me!

[frankhond]

Almost finished saddles can be ordered from Bob Colosi. Order a few an experiment with different actions, also you will likely mess up at least one. Great fun and very educational.

Pins and nut will not have a very noticeable effect, if at all. Plastic pins are not durable so you might want to swap for some other material for that reason.