Tusq nut & saddle: never discussed here before?

cheekygeek · #1 01-06-2013, 04:18 PM

I got info back from Godin on my 20th Anniversary S6 and one of the things they mentioned was that it had a Tusq nut and compensated saddle. Not sure if that was something special or something Godin (or other companies) use commonly. I see that Tusq is a man made ivory, by Graph Tech, a Canadian company.

Searching this forum (both using the site search and Google) it doesn't appear Tusq has even been mentioned before.

Any opinions on it?

pieterh · #2 01-06-2013, 04:20 PM

You are kidding right? Do the search again, plenty of opinions for and against Tusw (and some neutral).

cheekygeek · #3 01-06-2013, 04:26 PM

Well, now I get lots of results using the forum search (bizarre), but Google still comes up with nuttin'

Thanks for the reply. As you were.

mustache79 · #4 01-06-2013, 04:29 PM

I have no experience with Tusq, but there are of plenty of threads about it in the forum search. Try searching again. Cheers

justjack · #5 01-06-2013, 04:30 PM

Not that it matters one tiny bit, but I tried the Google search at the bottom of the page, and I got tons and tons of hits on tusq ("real savage like!").

See, that's the nice thing about a guitar: strum a G chord, and it's only ever going to ring out as a G chord.

Diamond Dave · #6 01-06-2013, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheekygeek

I got info back from Godin on my 20th Anniversary S6 and one of the things they mentioned was that it had a Tusq nut and compensated saddle. Not sure if that was something special or something Godin (or other companies) use commonly. I see that Tusq is a man made ivory, by Graph Tech, a Canadian company.

Searching this forum (both using the site search and Google) it doesn't appear Tusq has even been mentioned before.

Any opinions on it?

I think nearly all Godin guitars use Tusq now. Nearly all Taylors too.

ljguitar · #7 01-06-2013, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheekygeek

...Any opinions on it?

Hi cheekygeek...

As with other man-made, molded or extruded saddles and/or nuts, I prefer bone and believe with my style on my guitars, bone gets better tone.

I also know that Taylor uses Tusq and they sell bone saddles as an upgrade, so I assume they believe bone is better as well.

lmacmil · #8 01-06-2013, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diamond Dave

I think nearly all Godin guitars use Tusq now. Nearly all Taylors too.

And most Martins below the standard series.

MrBJones · #9 01-06-2013, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheekygeek

Well, now I get lots of results using the forum search (bizarre), but Google still comes up with nuttin'

Thanks for the reply. As you were.

That is odd. I clicked your link, and the search came up with 950,000 hits.

DenverSteve · #10 01-06-2013, 06:47 PM

May be discussed on average once a month or so. Anyone who thinks they haven't played Tusq is ... likely wrong. It's everywhere including many Taylors.

DenverSteve · #11 01-06-2013, 06:54 PM

Oops. Stuttered.

NevadaPic · #12 01-06-2013, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheekygeek

... Any opinions on it?

It's a poor substitute for bone that's all I know. I have replaced Tusq saddles w/ bone on every guitar that had one that has crossed my path. I never considered reverting to Tusq afterwards.

In any case, only guitar weenies like ourselves would know the difference and our audience would not have a clue.

pickinray · #13 01-06-2013, 07:23 PM

With all due respects, I don't think that Tusq is a poor substitute for bone. It depends on the guitar and the personal preferences of the player. I had a Taylor 310 that sounded better when I replaced the stock Tusq saddle with bone. I've tried bone and Tusq in my Martin OM-16GT and I prefer Tusq. I swapped out the stock Corian saddle in my Martin MMV for bone, but I didn't like it. I thought bone was too shrill sounding in that guitar. I'm going to try Tusq next. YMMV.

Glennwillow · #14 01-06-2013, 07:31 PM

Hi CG,

Now that you know that Tusq has been discussed in immense quantities here on the AGF, you will likely to be interested to know that a lot of companies use this material -- Taylor, for example. How Tusq sounds as a saddle vs other materials, generally bone, varies with the guitar and sometimes with the person doing the installation. I have yet to replace Tusq with bone when I didn't think bone sounded better, providing reduced treble stridency and better, more solid bass. But I could easily be surprised someday where I find that Tusq sounds better. It happens.

- Glenn

cheekygeek · #15 01-06-2013, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrBJones

That is odd. I clicked your link, and the search came up with 950,000 hits.

Heh, so do I when I try it from a different computer. Was on my iPad earlier. Wutt is up with that? (I'm an I.T. web geek, so believe me, I know how to exercise the Google Fu).

WEIRD!