#1
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Tusq saddle makes a difference!
I installed a new Tusq saddle in my Yamaha SCF08 plywood dread yesterday. The original was plastic. After doing a little sanding I got a perfect fit and height. The material was easy to work with.
The first thing I noticed is the sustain has improved and the tone is a little different in a good way. Much more string balance overall and the plain treble strings sound better. The plastic saddle made the tone harsh but now with a Tusq saddle it's smooth with more resonance. It even seems to play better. For $12 and about an hour of my time this was a worthy upgrade! |
#2
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That's great to hear! I love the Tusq saddles. I'm glad you're enjoying the change!
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#3
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I like Tusq as well. I understand the uniformity (vs natural bone) and have no interest in bone.
I really dislike plastic. The first thing I do with any new guitar is replace plastic nuts and saddles with Tusq, the second thing I do is replace plastic bridge pins with ebony or tusq.
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Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter" 000-15 / GC7 / GA3-12 / SB2-C / SB2-Cp / AVC-11MHx / AC-240 |
#4
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Did you put on new strings or keep the old ones?
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#5
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Quote:
The only Tusq saddle the shop had that fit was the Taylor replacement saddle. It even has the correct radius. It's about 1/8th of an inch less in length than the old saddle though. None the less I positioned it in the slot properly and it's perfect. The compensated portion of the saddle works nicely for the B string intonation. For an inexpensive plywood guitar it sounded pretty good to begin with but with the new Tusq saddle it sounds even better. |
#6
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Since the ones on it are only a month old I kept them on. I also wanted to hear if there was a change in tone with the same strings on it before the new saddle. The strings are D'Addario PB .011-.052
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#7
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Quote:
My Sigma 000 came with bone nut and saddle from the factory and to me it sounds wonderful so I do not intend to mess with it. From now on any guitar I get that has a plastic saddle will get a new Tusq replacement one. |
#8
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It definitely does, I put one in my Epiphone last week and it improved the treble response and sustain quite a bit.
If you drop a Tusq saddle on your table, you can hear how hard the material is. I guess it transfers the string vibrations very nicely due to that.
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Gibson Advanced Jumbo Red Spruce Epiphone IB 64 Texan And about a dozen electrics New/Old Gibby owners here UNITE! Let's see em! |
#9
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Tusq is a proprietary brand name for a plastic composition. Sure, it WILL be better than a softer plastic, but most of us who have changed 100 or more Tusq saddles to bone will MOSTLY agree that bone sounds even clearer with a crisper high-end.
Glad you are enjoying your mod and good on you for the DIY.
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---- Ned Milburn NSDCC Master Artisan Dartmouth, Nova Scotia |
#10
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Tusq is a great material but so is Bone. There are many threads discussing Bone vs. Tusq and the answer seems to be the guitar determines the difference. The only consensus seems to be anything but plastic for the bridge saddle.
Same is true for Bridge Pins. Each guitar is different and many sound good with plastic but Bone or Tusq are the answer for other guitars.
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Taylor V-Class 814ce, 717e BE WHB, 520ce, 454ce, 420 Cedar\Maple, T5z Classic Martin D18E Retro Cordoba C10 Crossover Emerald X20 Rainsong H-OM1000N2 Voyage-Air VAD-04 Custom Les Paul Hot Rod Deville 410, Fishman Loudbox Performer |
#11
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I may try a bone saddle in the future just to see if it suits this guitar. I intend to use it as my experimental guitar.
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#12
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I am glad it made an improvement for you, but tusq is just plastic in another form.
Possibly it may be playing better due to the attention you gave to the shape and height of the strings when you fitted them to the nut, you then play and appreciate what you have done. Either way, an improvement is an improvement Steve
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Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE |
#13
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Much more to the story of plastics
There are junk plastics like garbage bags and disposable cups and then there are highly engineered plastics with very high performance characteristics. I dislike plastics on my guitars (plastic binding, plastic nuts, pins etc) mostly because that thing we call "plastic" is usually very low performing, low quality , low cost junk. BUT, I would never mix up really high quality or specialized high performance or engineered plastics with those. These days it's all lumped together as "plastic" which seems to automatically carry the lowest common denominator of quality & performance. A wood analogy would be "pallets are made of yellow pine. I wouldn't call Brazilian rosewood in the same category simply because it's all wood" So, many kinds of plastics. Most are low grade stuff. But the good stuff can be really good. It's too bad we just call it plastic.
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Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter" 000-15 / GC7 / GA3-12 / SB2-C / SB2-Cp / AVC-11MHx / AC-240 |
#14
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Quote:
To the OP's experience, I suspect the Tusq is much better quality than the original material, and as Steve suggests, perhaps is fits better than therefore performs better. Bone is still my first choice in saddles. I far prefer it to Tusq, and fossil ivory for that matter. But part of the fun in being able to do things yourself is that you can learn by experience without spending a fortune. |
#15
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Quote:
Steve
__________________
Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE |