Asphaltcowboy Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Can’t seem to find the exact ones used on the true vintage or banner 1942 just contacted Gibson I would rather buy their bone anyone know? Don’t want used brand new cut and stripped thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Welcome to the forum. There is nothing special about Gibson-made bone nuts, saddles, or pins. Not sure Gibson even supplies bone pins. Lots of folks here buy them from Bob Colosi, who will custom-make whatever you want from a variety of materials. He can also custom age bone for an older look. I have bought many sets of pins from him over the years. Here is a link to his website: Bob Colosi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmeride Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 (edited) I've used this guy for all my Pins and Saddles. Great stuff! guitarsaddles.com EDIT: same guy from above post 😉 Edited May 7, 2021 by cmeride Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucebubs Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 My 2020 Historic 1957 SJ-200 comes with bone nut, saddle and pins. Making a bone saddle copy was easy because it's not compensated but I emailed Gibson with the serial number and asked for a spare set of bridge pins - they refused. The pins are an odd size 30.17mm long, 7.72mm across the top, 5.40mm collar and 5.30mm under the collar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asphaltcowboy Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 54 minutes ago, j45nick said: Welcome to the forum. There is nothing special about Gibson-made bone nuts, saddles, or pins. Not sure Gibson even supplies bone pins. Lots of folks here buy them from Bob Colosi, who will custom-make whatever you want from a variety of materials. He can also custom age bone for an older look. I have bought many sets of pins from him over the years. Here is a link to his website: Bob Colosi Seen site looks ok sale elephant ivory sales to GA only I’m a trucker so I can get down there and pickup at ups maybe is elephant better? Or is regular bone good enough or ivory? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asphaltcowboy Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 Site seems like a hassle to order on tho skip. Any better ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucebubs Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 These cattle bone pins from China on ebay are mighty close in size - seems a pity Gibson won't sell me theirs. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/183747610856 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 19 minutes ago, Asphaltcowboy said: Site seems like a hassle to order on tho skip. Any better ideas? You get what you pay for. It's not that hard to order from him. Are you trying to replace what you have, or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sevendaymelee Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 Martin will sell you one of their compensated bone saddles directly from their website. They won't be sanded down to your tastes, but everything else about them is the same exact thing they put into their guitars. Seems like a no-brainer to me and it's odd that Gibson wouldn't want to take our money in much the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 (edited) Colosi sells great products that take very little sanding to make fit for about $30 for a drop in style. You can send him your saddle and he can make you one. You could take it to a luthier and he'll make you one for about $65 You can buy a blank for about $3 and make one from scratch You can buy one off EBay and take your chances You can modify the one you have The drop in saddles are easier to modify and work with If you have a through saddle, adjusting the height then redoing the large radius on the ends takes extra work and if you've never done one, I would not buy an expensive one to learn on Edited May 8, 2021 by Dave F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 (edited) I have never really been that fussy about this kind of stuff and have never really thought much about it. Most of my guitars have bone saddles, pins and nuts because that is what my repair guy used unless you specified something else when he did setups. As to pins though I prefer them unslotted. I just went and bought some of the Antique Acoustic hard plastic pins.. They will go in as soon as I get around to the next string changes. Edited May 8, 2021 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pohatu771 Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 23 hours ago, Sevendaymelee said: Martin will sell you one of their compensated bone saddles directly from their website. They won't be sanded down to your tastes, but everything else about them is the same exact thing they put into their guitars. Seems like a no-brainer to me and it's odd that Gibson wouldn't want to take our money in much the same way. Martin will sell you ever part you need to build your own guitar. At one point (maybe not anymore), they even sold wood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucebubs Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 56 minutes ago, pohatu771 said: Martin will sell you ever part you need to build your own guitar. At one point (maybe not anymore), they even sold wood. Check that again ... I don't think they sell their own their own 'Martin' branded tuners to the general public - too easy to use them on a fake guitar. I had some gold tuners that needed replacing on my Martin Grand J12-40E Special after a poor set-up job that buffed the gold plating off half the tuners - I was only able to replace them after Jon Garon at My Favorite Guitars pleaded my case to Martin - I had to order them through the dealer who then shipped them on to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sevendaymelee Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 52 minutes ago, Brucebubs said: Check that again ... I don't think they sell their own their own 'Martin' branded tuners to the general public - too easy to use them on a fake guitar. I had some gold tuners that needed replacing on my Martin Grand J12-40E Special after a poor set-up job that buffed the gold plating off half the tuners - I was only able to replace them after Jon Garon at My Favorite Guitars pleaded my case to Martin - I had to order them through the dealer who then shipped them on to me. I don't know about tuners, but they do sell their saddles. https://www.martinguitar.com/gear-accessories/parts/13SRBC.html I only know because I purchased two of them not long ago lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearbasher Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 (edited) Martin used to sell kits to build guitars (There's still a link on their site. It says: coming soon). Anyhow, when they were selling them, they had a small variety of kits. I wanted to build a J-40 which wasn't listed. I gave them a call and they put a J-40 kit together for me. Edited May 9, 2021 by gearbasher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoSoxBiker Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 On 5/7/2021 at 7:08 PM, j45nick said: You get what you pay for. It's not that hard to order from him. Are you trying to replace what you have, or what? I'll echo what Nick said about the ordering process and what everyone says about his products. It's old school, yes, but the PayPal route is easy and kind of close to modern times. He is very responsive with requests for information both before and after sales. I would not hesitate. Maybe the price to pay for old school service is old school purchasing procedures. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 2 hours ago, BoSoxBiker said: I'll echo what Nick said about the ordering process and what everyone says about his products. It's old school, yes, but the PayPal route is easy and kind of close to modern times. He is very responsive with requests for information both before and after sales. I would not hesitate. Maybe the price to pay for old school service is old school purchasing procedures. 🙂 You can use a credit card with him, but you have to call him up and give him the number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPhx Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Here's another recommendation for Bob Colosi saddles and pins. I've ordered 4 or 5 saddles from him, and he was very helpful and quick to deliver each time. Phone call with my credit card and he sent them out. Plus he's a nice enough guy speak with about any information I needed prior to purchase. I don't bother to look anywhere else for saddles or pins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seabeesw Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 I know I’m bumping an old thread, but I’m going to add another plug for Bob Colosi saddles. I just pulled the Baggs UST from my J-45 Standard and installed a Bob Colosi compensated bone saddle. It came almost perfectly fit to height (stock Tusq, plus the transducer height). The only sanding I needed to do was a little shaping around the ends and a tiny (and I mean TINY) bit of the thickness to get a good snug fit. The difference in sound is incredible. Big boost in the low end, more punch and clearer mids. Stock J-45s are hit or miss IMO, and I feel like I got a good one, but swapping the saddle just made it that much better. I also swapped the stock Tusq bridge pins with some tortoise dot bone pins from Bob as well, and he picked through them as best he could to color match them to the finish. Highly recommend making the switch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egoidealmusic Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 That is a beautiful red J-45! Did you put in a new pickup? I'm thinking about doing what you just did (removing the pickup, getting a new bone saddle) but still want to be able to plug in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seabeesw Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 I haven’t installed a new pickup yet, and I haven’t decided if I want to, as I rarely plug in. If I do, I’m going to go with a K&K Pure Mini, or maybe an Ultrapure. I don’t want anything that’s going to interfere with the nature tone and volume, so bridgeplate mount seems to be the way to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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