Members Stackabones Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slagorourke Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 It always amazes me that guitar makers put plastic saddles in their instruments. A Tusq saddle costs next to nothing and would hardly dent their profits. I put a Tusq saddle in my Yam FG720 and it made a real difference. Not huge, but noticeable all the same. Bone would be better still but it's understandable that they don't put those in cheaper guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DarkHorseJ27 Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 In my opinion, bone is the best sounding material. Behind it is plastic. Tusq is a distant third. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kap55 Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 About 6 months ago I had the plastic nut/saddle on a Yamaha CG110 changed to bone. It was about $220 including new strings and setup, which is probably a little on the high side, but it was worth every penny. I've had that guitar for almost 20 years and I never realized it could sound that good. Bottom line - the price you were quoted is very fair, so if you really like the guitar go ahead and change the nut as well as the saddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Florida_Gator Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 About 6 months ago I had the plastic nut/saddle on a Yamaha CG110 changed to bone. It was about $220 including new strings and setup, which is probably a little on the high side, but it was worth every penny. I've had that guitar for almost 20 years and I never realized it could sound that good. Bottom line - the price you were quoted is very fair, so if you really like the guitar go ahead and change the nut as well as the saddle. Uh, yeah. I would have to agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guildfire Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 you guys are great...thanks for all the advice...the thing is that it sounds frickin fantastic as it is...just wondering if the swap would automatically make it sound even better...think I will just swap the strings and jamm out on it for a month...then decide....thanks again Smart move. Setup and string changes first, then go from there. Don't spend money you don't have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 Oh boy...I've got a feeling this is going to get ugly ! Well, before things get too out of hand, I'll chip in my two cents. Whether or not there's an appreciable difference in tone between plastic and bone is a hotly debated issue. Some folks say that can hear a difference, other folks say they can't. Scientifically, it's impossible to change a variable in a system without affecting the system itself. So changing the nut/saddle material will necessarily affect the tone of the guitar to some degree. Whether or not that difference is detectable is another question altogether. Changing nut material doesn't ever make much of a difference, because once you fret a string, the nut no longer comes into play. Since the nut only affects the tone of open strings, changing what it's made of often has little consequence. In regards to the saddle, the theory is that since bone is denser than plastic, it does a better job of transferring the vibrations of the strings to the top. As I mentioned earlier, some people claim to hear a difference between bone and plastic saddles, whereas other people say there isn't one. Oddly enough, there are also some people who try both and like the tone of plastic better . A lot depends on the guitar itself as well. Some guitars will respond better to a bone saddle, others will sound better with plastic. Stuff like this is VERY subjective, and the only way of really knowing whether or not it'll make a difference is trying it. You might hear a difference where other people won't. As for the price, $115 seems reasonable. Nut/saddle blanks made of bone are relatively expensive and cutting a custom nut/saddle isn't a five minute affair either. Pretty much in agreement, except I think either $115 is high, or my prices for that job is too low ($75) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BLUtunes Posted September 1, 2009 Members Share Posted September 1, 2009 Regarding the price paid. This is about what I paid to have my Yamaha done. My luthier charges $75 for the setup alone, so the bone nut and saddle was only about another $40. Well worth it in my opinion, and if I had to replace the Yamaha LLX6 I'd have it done again in a heartbeat. Like the original poster, I was a little nervous about doing this since I thought the guitar already sounded really good. But it really did take the guitar to another level. I certainly don't regret it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Hack Posted September 2, 2009 Members Share Posted September 2, 2009 That is way too much money for a bone nut and saddle. The bone blank costs about $2.00 and the nut blank costs about the same. I make my own. I can do both in an hour and I'm an amateur. It ain't rocket science. Go find a good tech and you should get it done for under $50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 2, 2009 Members Share Posted September 2, 2009 That is way too much money for a bone nut and saddle. The bone blank costs about $2.00 and the nut blank costs about the same. I make my own. I can do both in an hour and I'm an amateur. It ain't rocket science. Go find a good tech and you should get it done for under $50. Prices are about right for materials. It takes me 2-4 hours to make a nut fron scratch (see the Tech article at the Annex) and 1 or 2 to make a saddle. Add an hour for setup and another for tweaking the intonation - it easily takes me an afternoon to set up a new guitar. Hack must be either really fast and good, or maybe his results aren't what I strive for. If you pay your tech a living wage (lets say 20 bucks an hour), that is about what you were originally talking about, eh? I'll add one more comment about the saddle - the compelling reason to change a plastic saddle to bone is that you will soon have string grooves worn in a soft plastic saddle wich is not a good thing. Not a problem with the nut however - so again, my recommendation is (1) setup to your specs, (2) experiment with strings, (3) a new saddle when you are ready, (4) a nut if you have serious problem with the present one. If you do a saddle I would consider slotting and/or ramping your bridge - both can make improvements, and ream the pin holes if it hasn't been done (like new Martins). Otherwise, just enjoy your new guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boxorox Posted September 2, 2009 Members Share Posted September 2, 2009 I was with the "play it a while and see" folks, and I'm definately a "bone the saddle, forget the nut" kinda guy, but if you can get them both done with a set up at a reasonable price, I'd bite on that. I bone my own, and differant guitars react in individual ways. And it depends on what you want to hear. The responses from folks that have the same model guitar as you... Ahh, just do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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