[w.m.b.]

I agree about the bone saddle all the way, the nut about halfway and the pins not at all.
The saddle is a crucial link in the chain, the vibrations that drive the top pass directly through it. Assuming the nut is set up correctly for ease of play, it can only affect tone on open strings, and in my opinion the goal here is to match the tone of a fretted note. Nothing wrong with bone here, but composits can do a pretty good job here too. as for bridge pins, I believed for a long time that harder pins and more mass gave better sustain. it still makes sense to me to think more mass will have a drastic impact on tone-volume-sustain. But in my actual experience, not so much. I used brass pins for a long time on my dread, then someone told me that plastic pins would have less of a damping effect because they are lighter. I bought a set, and changed them last time I changed strings. I do not believe I could actually tell you the difference by sound alone. But then, I know this is not popular to admit.

[w.m.b.]

sboiir, on 26 December 2011 - 05:41 PM, said:

Anybody ever heard of "Kauila" wood ? It is the wood used by "Ancient Hawaiians to tool down to make axe heads and spears ect. then used for cutting down Koa and other trees for Canoe building and such. It was their Iron wood so to speak. I'm in the process of quartersawing it to make nut, saddle and bridge pins. Any thoughts ?

I would love to try a saddle out of this stuff on my classical. It sure looks beautiful.

[Mike.J.Faulkner]

Just done the Bone saddle upgrade on my J45 and has made a big difference, upgraded to bone pins as well and that made little difference.

[aadvark]

gijs, on 04 January 2011 - 04:16 PM, said:

I'm thinking of moving to all bone on my 09 Bird, but I am a bit reluctant as it already sounds somewhat bright. Scared to make the brightness a bit too overwhelming.

Any thoughts on that or experience in changing to bone on standard Birds?

Absolutely LOVE bone on my old 60s bird, brightens her up just right, can't speak for a newer one though, worth a try!?

[gijs]

aadvark, on 12 February 2013 - 05:25 AM, said:

Absolutely LOVE bone on my old 60s bird, brightens her up just right, can't speak for a newer one though, worth a try!?

In the meantime I did, and the sound is just stunning I have to say.

[ThemisSal]

I just fitted a Colosi bone saddle and pins on my J-50 Modern Classic. I think it sounds different? Maybe a tad better? Hard to say! It goes to show you I think some folks can hear a more pronounced difference than others. I also changed strings to Pearse PB Lights, so to be fair I am having trouble isolating the differences attrubuted to the saddle vs. the strings. It had Lifespan Lights on prior.

[Murph]

ThemisSal, on 23 February 2013 - 02:00 PM, said:

It goes to show you I think some folks can hear a more pronounced difference than others.

Yep.

[RaysEpiphone]

I have switched the pins in my 2010 Epiphone Texan from the stock ones that came in it to some made by Planet Wave's, I believe they are some sort of wood. The old one's where plastic I'm sure, it has a brighter tone than before. I'd like to replace the nut & bridge as well and the first 4 or 5 frets to but I don't know if I should go with bone or ivory. It's not an old guitar but as it's my only use-able one atm so I have played it a LOT in the short time I've owned it from new.

[Superbutkus]

onewilyfool, on 31 December 2010 - 04:24 PM, said:

I agree with Larry and Node....coated strings are the best!! My body chemistry is such that it eats non-coated strings,lol....so I pretty much HAVE to use them!!! Node, I've heard tha you would play better with a new bone,nuts,and I'm pretty sure you've used a saddle before.....

Preaching to the choir....apparently I am related to the creatures in Alien as my pores exude corrosion causing enzymes.

[stratplayer10]

Hi, I am a newq guy to this site and I have 1993 Blues king which needs a bit of work, the bridge is really too low to be of any use, especially on the terble side of things, and it has a fishman pick up unders the saddle.
I want to change the saddle ideally, its really sloppy in the slot and I have packed it so it sits vertically, but its a poor contact with the bridge and pick up I think as the volume seems well down.
So, it all original apart from the fishman and ideally I would like to order a saddle replacement that I can pretty much fit in after adjusting the height. I live in the UK so its not as easy as ordering from the usual excelent suppliers you guys have. Any thoughts on a new saddle and pins?
Also, I ahve been using 11's for quite a while, but they do lack power so I have changed them for some 12's until I get the saddle sorted. Any recomendations? Its sounds as dull as ditch water with Phoshor Bronze so I am looking to brighten it up a bit, I have 80/20 Martins in for now.
Any thoughts would be most welcome, I do play live quite a bit and I love the original tone of the Blues King, it always attracts comments but I am sure can sound a whole lot better.

Thanks

[aliasphobias]

 stratplayer10, on 26 March 2013 - 12:12 PM, said:

Hi, I am a newq guy to this site and I have 1993 Blues king which needs a bit of work, the bridge is really too low to be of any use, especially on the terble side of things, and it has a fishman pick up unders the saddle.
I want to change the saddle ideally, its really sloppy in the slot and I have packed it so it sits vertically, but its a poor contact with the bridge and pick up I think as the volume seems well down.
So, it all original apart from the fishman and ideally I would like to order a saddle replacement that I can pretty much fit in after adjusting the height. I live in the UK so its not as easy as ordering from the usual excelent suppliers you guys have. Any thoughts on a new saddle and pins?
Also, I ahve been using 11's for quite a while, but they do lack power so I have changed them for some 12's until I get the saddle sorted. Any recomendations? Its sounds as dull as ditch water with Phoshor Bronze so I am looking to brighten it up a bit, I have 80/20 Martins in for now.
Any thoughts would be most welcome, I do play live quite a bit and I love the original tone of the Blues King, it always attracts comments but I am sure can sound a whole lot better.

Thanks

Hi and welcome. Try Bob Colosi for the pins and saddle. I think there is a link in the very first post of this thread. As many others here I am a big fan of bone for pins and saddle for enhancing tone. Bob is a real nice guy as well as helpful. You may have to do a little fitting but it's simple and well worth the time. Good Luck.

[luckycanine]

EuroAussie, on 01 January 2011 - 05:22 AM, said:

All excllent points, really good thread and thanks for sharing.

Couple things i would add:

1) I find mediums work great on mahogany b/s dreads as they bring out the natural woody richness of the tone, while 12's are better for rosewood b/s guitars. I found 13's on rosewood dreads in particular chokes the sound.

I prefer non coated strings and i always put a new set of strings before a gig, hence it makes sense to use non coated ones as i reagularly change them. I just find its easier to play with new strings, and as I use DR Sunbeams they have a warm tone straight off the bat so dont have to worry about new string zip'.

Bone pins /saddle - Ive plaed Colossi bone pins / saddles in all my main 3 guitars and yes, i do hear a genuine difference. Its subtle but there, all for the better

Guitar picks - this is probably to me the one thing that can change the tone of a guitar more than anything. Its also the cheapest 'modification'. Thicker picks bring a really different tone compared to lighter ones. Its worth experimenting. Personally i tried numerous picks but i alway come back to the Orange Tortex picks, but if i play a track where there is a lot flat picking i gravitate to a thicker pick, as it makes picking really a lot easier.

OK, thats my 7cents worth.

cheers.

Always wondered about string gage. I have heard many folks say that size of the instrument has a lot to do with sting gage preference...and that the larger the instrument the greater the tension/gage in order to move the top. Nevertheless, I believe I will try some lights on my rosewoods and see if there is a difference. Right now I have all dreads, and they all have mediums/aj17 coated d'addarrios.