bone nut/saddle on a Taylor?

[John G.]

Long time lurker, first time poster.
Has anyone here replaced the tusq saddle or the stock nut with bone? If so, how did it affect sustain, projection, tone?
My 712 w/ englemann top sustains great but I am wondering if I might get a bit more volume out of it with bone? Thanks! John

[CTTaylor]

For what it's worth, I did what you're asking about two weeks ago, with mixed results.

I have two Taylors, an 814-B (Legends of the Fall, Englemann, Brazilian rosewood) and a 2000 W-14-C. I ordered two saddle blanks from First Quality Musical Supplies (www.fqms.com), part number GA3WPC. These are compensated bone saddles that only require a small amount of sanding to drop in and directly replace the stock Tusq saddle.

I replaced the W-14-C saddle first (took about 3 minutes to sand and fit). Re-tuned using the same strings and SHAZAM! The guitar's sound, which was excellent before, improved by about 40%. It's louder, has a longer sustain time, more bass, better mid-range, etc etc etc. It's a dramatic improvement that's the best $5.98 I've ever spent. I'm still amazed every time I play it.

I did the 814-B a few days later. Put in the new saddle, re-tuned the same strings and played. The change was not good. The sustain dropped off quite a bit and the tone was much darker (sounded like dead strings). I put the original saddle back in and again re-tuned with the same strings. The original tone of the guitar was back.

The overall change to the W-14 was about as good as the change to the 814 was bad.

Hope this helps. Just try it - it might make a big difference. The saddles from FQMS let you do the change yourself with minimal effort.

[Speakout]

Originally posted by CTTaylor:
<STRONG> I ordered two saddle blanks from First Quality Musical Supplies (www.fqms.com), part number GA3WPC. These are compensated bone saddles that only require a small amount of sanding to drop in and directly replace the stock Tusq saddle.</STRONG>

Any idea as to what radius the new saddles are cut to?

Thanks,

Brad

[cpmusic]

I never knew you could buy pre-cut bone saddles until just recently, so I did it the hard way. It takes a bit of work (slow and careful is the key) but on the plus side, I get an almost exact replica of the saddle that came with the guitar.

Anyway, I've replaced the saddles on all my acoustics with bone, and had good to excellent results in nearly all cases. This includes my 615, Tacoma EM9, Guild Mark I classical, Fender Redondo(!), and Baby-M.

My 615 pre-dates Tusq, so I was replacing Micarta, and I got a little more brightness and volume, but mostly more clarity. Interestingly, when Taylor gave it a new bridge in the 90s, the Tusq saddle they dropped in just didn't make the grade; the tone sounded like it had been clamped down or muffled a bit. To their considerable credit, they graciously took the guitar back and replaced the the Tusq with bone, gratis!

About the only guitar on which it didn't make much difference was my Baby-M (I had an extra blank, so what the heck). I don't hear much difference, but while I was at it, I adjusted the compensation profile for the low E and A strings, and that helped intonation on those strings.

Chris

[ 09-03-2001: Message edited by: cpmusic ]

[gmccall]

Hi,

Ummmm, not to change the subject, but I replaced the bridge pins on my 810B with jewelers brass pins and it was beneficial.

Maybe a little more punch, a little more sustain. At lease the strings appear to sound better longer.

I wish I had the money for Mamoth Tusk bridge pins.

I was also gonna go to a bone saddle on my 810B but according to above, now I don't know...

Later,
Grm

[ 09-03-2001: Message edited by: gmccall ]

[CTTaylor]

Originally posted by Speakout:
<STRONG>

Any idea as to what radius the new saddles are cut to?

Thanks,

Brad</STRONG>

The saddle from FQMS looks like a direct replacement for the stock Tusq. Same radius, same everything. All you need to do is round the corners a bit and take about four passes on a sheet of sandpaper for thickness and it should pop right in.

[JayGon]

CTTaylor,

WHy do you suppose you got such a different result with the two Taylors? Did it have to do with the tonewoods? The shapes (GA) are identical except for the cutaway, right?

Jay

[CTTaylor]

Originally posted by JayGon:
<STRONG>CTTaylor,

WHy do you suppose you got such a different result with the two Taylors? Did it have to do with the tonewoods? The shapes (GA) are identical except for the cutaway, right?

Jay</STRONG>

Jay -
I don't really know. I was hoping someone else could shed some light. Yes, the body shapes are the same, except for the cutaway. I don't what caused the difference, I only know what my ears told me. I suppose it has to do with the wood combination differences. I doubt if the cutaway makes a difference.

[slw]

I just ordered a bone saddle from FQMS and plan to put it on my 714ce. I'll let you know how it goes.

[JayGon]

That would be great. I would consider it on my 714 as well.

Jay

[slw]

Well I’ve installed the bone saddle I got from FQMS this weekend in my 714ce. I was amazed how it came cut in almost the identical shape of the Taylor compensated tusq saddle. The results were excellent. I experienced more clarity, sustain, and projection in the sound after it was installed. It’s hard for me to quantify the degree or percentage of improvement, but it’s definitely there.

Had to sand down the height, corners, and the thickness slightly to get it to fit into the slot. Besides breaking a nanoweb G and E string in the process, it was a piece of cake and well worth the $5.98 plus shipping.

I would say that replacement to a bone saddle should be standard practice. If it doesn’t give you the results you want (see previous posts here) you can always put back the original saddle at no risk, with the exception maybe of a couple of broken strings. The excellent results for me were worth the time and marginal cost. It's hard to believe that replacing such a little part/piece of the guitar can make that much improvement to the sound and tone of a Taylor, as if it needed any more improvement!

Next stop, maybe a bone nut, but installed by a luthier/repair person. Replacing that one is beyond my ability and comfort level.

[Iwant355]

Think I could order a saddle large enough for my 555?

[SG]

CTTaylor - Could it be that maybe the saddles
were not the same quality. In my research one of the problems with bone is that is can be inconsistent. SG

[CTTaylor]

Originally posted by SG:
<STRONG>CTTaylor - Could it be that maybe the saddles
were not the same quality. In my research one of the problems with bone is that is can be inconsistent. SG</STRONG>

I should have made this clear in my earlier posts . . .

I actually ordered three of the new saddles, figuring I would be using two and keeping one as a spare. I thought that one saddle might be less dense than the other, so I tried two different ones on the 814-B. Same results.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[John G.]

A follow-up to my own post. While my 712 was back at Taylor for a neck warranty fix I had them put on a bone saddle. It seems mostly favorable but not as dramatic as I would have hoped. On the plus sides there is definitely more volume and the guitar takes a strum a bit better. Single notes have more of a fatness to them and the bass is a smidge more developed. Sustain seems about the same, possibly a bit better. The only loss has been a bit of the high end shimmer, which the tusq seemed to have. My opinion is based on only playing this saddle for a few days so I might feel different in a month. The only downside is that it is more expensive to have Taylor do it. If you are getting the saddle at FQMS for six bucks then it is no big deal. JG