Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

Fossilized Walrus Ivory


John Lee Walker

Recommended Posts

Browsing thru the Elderly site, I keep looking at the fossilzed walrus ivory saddle for Gibson jumbos at $75 and I am wondering about it.

 

As previously discussed in an earlier thread, I know there are pros and cons when it comes to bone or ivory saddles. One being the natural density of the material which could be inconsistent in some spots due to the composition (or decomposition maybe) of its mass. Tusq mentions this and plays on it in their adds for their synthetic saddles, saying that there is no chance of degradation or dead spots in their plastic. I'm wondering what the difference is (in sound, of course) between fossilized ivory and bone and plastic and if it's even worth the hassle. Just what are the virtues of fossilized walrus ivory? Is it so high priced just because it is an exotic material, or because it the proven elite material for guitar saddles?

 

Never used one before and just curious...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a Colosi FWI saddle that was sent to me by a fellow forum member a couple of years ago in a very generous and kind gesture that will not be forgotten. I often pop it in my Gibsons for recording... It sounds amazing acoustically, but doesn't mate very well with undersaddle pickups.

 

Tonally, it has more kick in the lower mids than tusq, and sounds bolder. It sounds especially great with a fresh set of D'Addario EJ17s.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, guitarstrummer, thanks a bunch for that info. He does have a mucho better price there. I'm sure he'll give me the info I need if I call. Bob is always a very pleasant and knowledgable guy when I deal with him. I'll give him a shout. He's great to deal with - when we spoke on the phone and I ordered the bone/abalone pins they were at my house 2 days later. Fantastic service.

 

Jinder, thanks, too! Nice to hear from someone who's actually used one and likes it. One question, tho - just why does it not mate well with undersaddle pickups?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have to make sure that the bottom is perfectly flat, but that's the case with matching any saddle with an undersaddle pickup. Also, some natural materials have spots which don't conduct as well. That's why Gibson uses Tusq for most of their undersaddle pickup installations out of the factory. I don't know if that's what he's referring to or not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...