#16
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
|
#17
|
|||
|
|||
I have found that bone varies widely. It can be almost as "pingy" as Tusq, but also can sound close to Micarta, and land with a thud.
Here's my experience: If you want maximum brightness, overtones, and harmonics, go with Tusq. If you want a tamed brightness, overtones, and harmonics, go with Micarta. The cheap plastic saddles works even better than Micarta at damping the sound, but I don't think it sounds all that great when it gets to that extreme. |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Frankly - if you have to pay about with different materials for saddles and pins to get the sound you want from a guitar - the guitar is the problem not the saddles/pins etc.
__________________
Silly Moustache, Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer. I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom! |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Even identical custom made guitars can be variable. Then there is string choice, which is huge. Now, are we all a bit obsessed by this stuff? Yeah, I think we are.Lol.[emoji4] |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
I think the biggest problem would be removing variables. I mean, just for starters I'd probably have to program an Arduino to create a simple machine that would be capable of strumming a pick with a consistent velocity and pressure. The sad thing is that I would totally jump headlong into an inane project like that if I could. |
#21
|
||||
|
||||
Hi J.K.
I'm an old coot (70 yrs old when this was posted) and have played for more than 55 years, and to my ears, Bone still sounds best. It's a personal thing. I've owned others, and have always been happier when I had saddles switched to bone. |
#22
|
|||
|
|||
I put a WAHI saddle in one of my acoustics that had bone and it really improved the sound. No electronics in the that guitar.
|
#23
|
|||
|
|||
I'm partial to vintage guitars, Martins and Larsons in particular ... 30s - early 40s. Invariably, they have ivory saddles as originally equipped. I've swapped in bone saddles on a number of occasions, and have yet to find an instance were they were preferable to ivory. There's a wonderful smoothness noticeable in the trebles that disappears when bone is installed. While I can easily get ahold of old ivory saddles from luthiers I know, I wouldn't go out of my way to seek it nor order a guitar that uses it. Still, I do hold it in the highest regard.
|
#24
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
What I'm saying is, objective terms like "best" and "worst" are subjective benchmarks beholden to perspective. The discreet facts are always measurements and statistics. That's why I was just curious about the base timbral and resonant attributes. |
#25
|
|||
|
|||
How does ebony hold up as a saddle. My experience with Ebony Bridge Pins. They seem to be VERY fragile, and can crack easily ?
Ed
__________________
"Quote The Raven, NEVERMORE !" |
#26
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Check out Shabbychick. As for ebony or any other wood as a saddle material...? It may be good sonically but probably is not very durable. Never tried it though. |
#27
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
And now you know the rest of the story.
__________________
Something something, beer is good, and people are crazy. |
#28
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
whm |
#29
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
Thanks for the detailed response. For me it's always about how a guitar responds, and how it sounds to me…or my wife or gigging partner…they get to hear my guitars from out-front not from on-top/behind it. I've done tons of recording of all types of guitars (owned/ran an acoustic studio for 8 years), with both synthetic and natural saddle material, and you really cannot divorce the player, his/her style, age/condition of the strings/formulation of strings, and the style of the music being played from the resulting sound/tone/output. It was apparent that some players are really particular about their sound, and others really don't seem to listen to their instruments at all. I've had other people play my guitars and the tone, and characteristics of the instrument are quite different than when I play it. Particularly since I'm an all-flesh (with a hint of nails for emphases), medium velocity player, and my gigging partner is a flat-picker who can hybrid pick who likes to lean-into-it. The reason I own 3 really great guitars is because I appreciate the different tone of each, and the overlapping neck characteristics and acoustic properties. I asked my luthier once about different materials for saddles and he picked up a bone saddle and a man-made one, and dropped them from shoulder height onto a concrete floor. The bone sprang up and sang, and the man-made one went thud and bounced very little. That was a good demonstration for me. |
#30
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Obviously there is a certain importance to do with surface hardness. So I wonder if using lignum vitae might prove to be a good choice? I have a small stack of it here, and i've often considered having a piece cut to size just to see. And not only the saddle, but the nut as well, since lignum vitae as a wood has such amazing lubrication properties that for years it was used as the bearing block for ship propellers. It would seem that it might be a natural for the nut in that regard. Edit* I found an old forum post of yours on this, where you mentioned that it's not so hot for a saddle, but could work well for the nut.
__________________
Something something, beer is good, and people are crazy. Last edited by Monsoon1; 01-23-2019 at 02:03 PM. |