Yamaha L series nut and bridge

[JBCROTTY]

Originally Posted by Beakybird

How much did the bone improve the sound?

To be honest I probably can’t tell. Perhaps a bit brighter with a bit more crisp bass but that might just be me imagining it sounds better to justify the change and work fitting/sanding it.

[Beakybird]

Originally Posted by JBCROTTY

To be honest I probably can’t tell. Perhaps a bit brighter with a bit more crisp bass but that might just be me imagining it sounds better to justify the change and work fitting/sanding it.

Thanks. My dog says get bone.

[Trevor T]

I just ordered a Graph Tech PQ-6134-00 nut and PQ-9276-C0 saddle for my LJ16. They should hopefully arrive in a few days. I'll let you know how it goes!

[Beakybird]

Originally Posted by Trevor T

I just ordered a Graph Tech PQ-6134-00 nut and PQ-9276-C0 saddle for my LJ16. They should hopefully arrive in a few days. I'll let you know how it goes!

Do you have to cut the slots of this nut? Look forward to hearing if the $$ and time is worth it.

[Trevor T]

Originally Posted by Beakybird

Do you have to cut the slots of this nut? Look forward to hearing if the $$ and time is worth it.

The nut slots for this one are already cut, so it should just be a matter of sanding down a bit for a nice fit. That's the hope anyways!

[jed1894]

Originally Posted by Trevor T

I just ordered a Graph Tech PQ-6134-00 nut and PQ-9276-C0 saddle for my LJ16. They should hopefully arrive in a few days. I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks. Please let us know.

[Trevor T]

Originally Posted by jed1894

Thanks. Please let us know.

Hey there. Sorry for the long delay -- One of the items in my order wasn't in stock at the time so the nut and saddle didn't ship until this week. I just got them yesterday, and had a chance to start working with them tonight.

Earlier tonight I swapped out the stock saddle in my LJ16 with the Graph Tech PQ-9276-C0. It took a bit of careful sanding, but I got it to a nice fit with some work. The length and width were just a bit over-sized (mostly the length). I found the most challenging part to be rounding off the edges of the saddle when adjusting the length. The height was considerably over-sized (which is expected I suppose), so that had to come down quite a bit. I used the stock saddle as a reference when sanding the new saddle down to the proper height before making the final adjustments for the action.

At this point, the action is where I like it so the guitar plays well (I had also filed down the nut slots on the stock nut a few weeks ago). From what I can hear at this point it sounds great -- not sure if I can definitely say it sounds "better" but I think I can hear a difference. Without being able to do an A/B comparison I'm not sure I could say anything specific about the change in sound... my ears aren't quite tuned enough for that

Now I just want to round out the corners where the saddle is a bit sharp. I should also note that the intonation seemed to be pretty good -- the poorest-intonated string seems to be the low E, which is a bit flat at the 12th fret (I'm using the same strings as stock -- Elixir 80/20 Lights, with intonation checked in standard tuning).

I'm going to work on the nut tomorrow. From some quick measurements I did just now, it seems like it'll be fairly quick -- I might have the shave the base down maybe 0.5 mm to get the action at the nut to where I like it, and the sides might have to come in just a touch. I'll be sure to give another (apparently very detailed...) update tomorrow once that's done!

[songlife]

I got an unbleached bone saddle from MacNichol Guitars, it was a perfect drop-in fit for my Transacoustic LL-TA. I can't say I've noticed any sonic difference other than possibly slightly longer sustain. I do prefer it over the stock urea saddle because it's got a little bit of compensation on the low E as well as normal compensation on the B. Down the line I might try some other material other than bone, since I don't need more sustain on this guitar; I prefer more warmth. MacNichol are fabulous to deal with, by the way; they originally sent me a saddle as white as a bleached, but when I griped, they sent me two more for free that have more of a vintage look.

For bridge pins, I went with Colosi dyed bone for $50. Same effect as saddle: slightly more sustain and that's it. But they actually fit better than the original pins & look great. As far as the nut, I'll be having Buzz Feiten tuning installed in the future, since it fixes intonation problems and includes the bone nut. It was preinstalled on my McPherson and I never had tuning/intonation issues with that guitar like I do the Transacoustic, which is horrific in that area even with the new saddle.

[Retired1]

I have a few Yamaha guitars - I don't change the nuts - the Urea original ones are harder that Tusq and completely adequate - if you change to bone the only thing you get will be a lot of unnecessary work. Regarding the saddle, I change to McNichols unbleached saddles - a good deal, does require a little careful work, and you can go for the action you want - soundwise I believe I got a little more sustain and maybe a little crisper sound but honestly these Yamaha guitars sound so good once they open up any changes to the nut and saddle are unnecessary.

[Wellington]

I bought a tusq for my LL16 as well as a bone saddle from Bob Colossi, good fit, it's the one I usually have in.

[baw3]

What retired 1 says. And by the way, my dog he got three legs, and he say skip the bone.