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Whats the best place to get bone?


DarkHorseJ27

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Bone is found inside most animals. It is a difficult and disgusting task to get them to surrender it. If you do this a lot, have a bandsaw and know how to use it, TAH hit's it. On the other hand, if you want to save a little time, get blanks from the sources named. If you want to save a lot of time, get the pre-finished ones that only need to be fitted. I've done it both ways, and it's worth it for someone else with the right tools to do the crap work. This is especially true of nuts. I have made a few, but they are labor intensive unless you have the proper tools. And one mistake puts you back to square one. The dust can be very bad for the lungs and the complection. If you have "A Guy", he would probably do a great set up, a saddle and nut for about $50. It's worth it.

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I suppose some purists insist that you want to use aged, unbleached bones... preferably from mamouths that have been found in the artic frozen for 90,000 years. But I've have very good success using sterilized bones that you can buy at Petco for a couple of bucks for Fido. You can get 15-20 blanks cut from a good size piece.

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I worked on a nut for my new 12 string today - I've probably got about 2 hours in it and I'd say I'm half done. I've taken a bunch of pics - if anyone is interested I could do a little thread.

 

 

I am interested...I just received a couple of Martin bone nuts by mistake (was suppose to have been saddles blanks sent) so I am consider giving it a try depending on what all is involved.

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I just got another package in the mail from Bob Colosi... more discussion about bone to follow...

 

 

Is that for a FG7xx?

 

The stock saddle fit loose on mine..thought I was going to need a 3/32" by measuring the original but turned out the 1/8" was a better (snug) fit.

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Is that for a FG7xx?


The stock saddle fit loose on mine..thought I was going to need a 3/32" by measuring the original but turned out the 1/8" was a better (snug) fit.

 

 

 

Going on my Howizer..FG730S

I just did some quick measuring.

 

Old saddle: .114

New Saddle: .115

Fit is good.

 

He sent it about .020" tall and .020" long so I could adjust to my liking.

 

Damn Bob is good:thu:

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He sent it about .020" tall and .020" long so I could adjust to my liking.


Damn Bob is good:thu:

 

 

 

That's what I was wondering. I'm going to carve a another one tomorrow probably, for my FG700. It is rewarding to do it yourself also considered Bob but I had to have it yesterday.

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. . . Colosi will sell you a saddle that is pre compensated and will drop right into your guitar, but as you know you really can't buy a premade nut that will work very well. You know also that making a saddle from a blank is pretty straightfoward, making a nut is not (and does require a sizeable investment in tools) . . .

 

If you buy a TUSQ nut, you can find a pre-made one that will work quite well. Cost will be around $10 vs. $50 or so for a custom made nut of either bone or TUSQ. Our daughter's old Epi has a TUSQ nut, largely because I couldn't find a plastic nut that would fit it. Similarly, you can buy a pre-made TUSQ saddle for around $10 that will work and sound just fine, thank you. A decent compromise might be a bone saddle and TUSQ nut.

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Realistically I would probably only do the nut if it needed replacing and then the Tusq sounds like the way to go, for me anyway. Would like to see Freeman's pics though.

But I am serious about doing bone bridge pins right now. Any opinions?

Edit: Opps forgot about Freeman's pin test. :thu: Think I prefer the ebony, then bone, both sound pretty good to me.

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Whilst I can appreciate and commend the service provided by Bob Colosi for those wanting pre-made saddles there still exists the fact that final fitting is necessary, whilst potentially compromising existing compensation/intonation. Yes, they're made to order, but custom made items typically need to be finish fitted by the maker and $50 seems a little steep for an unfinished product that literally takes between 10 - 15 minutes to craft - even when considering material costs, overheads, etc..

I'd honestly save the hassle - unless you craft your own - and try to book a session when you can take the instrument to a decent tech to have either saddle or nut fitted personally whilst you wait or as a next day service.

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I've bought and finished three saddle from Colosi. Each Saddle cost me $25.

I may try my next one from a blank but I found value in the product and would not hesitate to to go this route again...




No doubt his work is good value, but you'll be surprised just how little time and money it takes once you head down the saddle making route. All items have features and benefits of one sort or another that form some kind of value. :thu:

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Whilst I can appreciate and commend the service provided by Bob Colosi for those wanting pre-made saddles there still exists the fact that final fitting is necessary, whilst potentially compromising existing compensation/intonation. Yes, they're made to order, but custom made items typically need to be finish fitted by the maker and $50 seems a little steep for an unfinished product that literally takes between 10 - 15 minutes to craft - even when considering material costs, overheads, etc..


I'd honestly save the hassle - unless you craft your own - and try to book a session when you can take the instrument to a decent tech to have either saddle or nut fitted personally whilst you wait or as a next day service.

 

 

Man reaches a point when he wants to be a DIY-er, Gary. It's a primordial calling sort of like making fire. So, we buy matches or buy pre-made saddles.

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The one I made today turned out really good, better than the first one. Sustain is crazy and intonation is dead on but it (intonation) was to begin with so I was successful in duplicating the original just a bit wider.

To save a lot of work I'd recomend pre-shaped radius saddles if you're doing it yourself though.

Glad Gary got me going on this. :thu:

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