saddles

[bill67]

Is a tusq saddle as good as a bone saddle,about about how much different is the sound? I bought my DR 500 from a store ,they must have sanded the saddle,It works in the summer but to low when the moister goes down,so I want a new saddle.

[Spyders]

Here's what I've heard about Tusq:

 

"If you have an acoustic or vintage guitar, you owe it to yourself to hear the difference a TUSQ® nut, saddle and bridge pins make. Compared to standard materials such as bone, micarta or corian, you'll hear more harmonics with every note you play when you use TUSQ.on your guitar.

 

 

TUSQ has quickly become an important tone performance tool for some of the worlds most renowned guitar manufacturers, luthiers and playing professionals. TUSQ nuts and saddles have rich tone and sustain, without the inconsistency found in ivory, bone and other natural materials. Bone and ivory have hard and soft spots (grain) throughout each piece, hampering consistent transfer of vibrations to the guitar top. TUSQ nuts, saddles and bridge pins are designed to transfer the right frequencies more efficiently from the string to the guitar body. Acoustic guitars come alive!

 

Rich Tone: a crystal clear bell like high end, big open lows, and a noticeable increase in overall sustain. Laboratory-proven to enhance harmonic content (up to 200%) and sustain (up to 16%).

Engineered for maximum vibration transfer.

Used by the world's finest guitar manufacturers.

Consistent quality from piece to piece and within each piece.

No flat or dead spots that can be found in bone or ivory.

Easy to work with - can be filed and sanded; will not chip or flake.

TUSQ is far superior in sound and apearance to synthetics such as Micarta and Corian. The high levels of heat and pressure used in making TUSQ results in its exotic ivory-like appearance. Join those who have invested in the best new man-made ivory available! TUSQ is used by: G&L, Martin, Taylor, Larrivee, Gibson, Tacoma, Ovation, Raimundo, Rainsong, Carvin and many other industry leaders.

 

TUSQ products are factory installed by: G&L Guitars, Taylor Guitars, Martin, Larrivee, Gibson, Tacoma, Ovation, Rainsong, Carvin, Lag, Hagstrom Guitars and many more!"

 

I just bought a tusq saddle, nut, and pins for my AJ 200s but I haven't insatlled them yet. I'll let you know how they work out.

 

Spyders

[jman99]

Nothing wrong with bone or Tusq. Both are an improvement over plastic. Is Tusq better than bone, I don't know how it coud be but you never know.

[Ship of fools]

It really depends on what you like, I have both in different guitars and I have tried to switch them up and sometimes it works and sometimes it won't, its a personal taste thing and you have to try both out to see what works in yours and what you like for sound.Ship

[trossit]

Is a tusq saddle as good as a bone saddle' date='about about how much different is the sound? I bought my DR 500 from a store ,they must have sanded the saddle,It works in the summer but to low when the moister goes down,so I want a new saddle.[/quote']

 

Bill, I have a Epi DR200S (Korean made). I replaced the stock plastic saddle with a Tusq saddle. Originally my guitar was very mid-rangy and I wanted more bottom end. The effect of the Tusq saddle amplified what I already had. I picked up 10% more lows but also gained 15% more midrange. The guitar seemed a bit louder and almost too bright. I eventually re-installed the plastic saddle to get back the original sound. My feeling is, if your guitar is balanced and sounds good the Tusq saddle will make it sound better. If you guitar is lacking balanced tone then the Tusq saddle will amplify this condition. Hope this helps.

[johnypaycut]

Tusk,tusk....(tusq?) really! i don't a buy'it (yes i've tried it. did ya know that bone comes many different textures? think..

every time some snake oil salesman come up with a new product we all follow like lemmings

[Spyders]

OK, here's my update. I went to work today to install a tusq nut, saddle and bridge pins to my AJ 200s. First thing that I found was that the plastic nut is stuck on there pretty dang good!!! I don't know if it is glued on or not but I tried to knock it out (per instructions) and it wouldn't budge. So I quickly abandoned the attempt to replace it. Then I checked out the tusq bridge pins and they really didn't fit to well either. The diameter at the top of the pin was too wide and they would have stuck out quite a bit so I abandoned that idea as well.

 

Next came the tusq saddle. It was too thick, too long, and too tall to fit right in the slot so I broke out some sandpaper and got to work. After an hour or so of sanding, I got the length, width, and height right and fit it down into the slot. I strung her back up and all I can say is WOW!!!

 

This saddle has made a very noticable difference in the richness and sustain of my guitar!!! Just as the ad copy said, there seem to be more noticable harmonics, and the guitar has more of a "bell tone" now. To be honest, I don't think this is particularly surprising. After handling the plastic saddle and the tusq saddle, I can only describe the plastic saddle as crap. It is very soft and pliable as compared to the tusq saddle and it fit rather loosely in the saddle cavity - to the point where if I turned the guitar over without any strings and shook it very slightly, the saddle would fall out. I'm surprised that Epiphone would put such a cheap component in the guitar - considering how crucial the saddle is to the function of the instrument. I worked the tusq saddle to the point where it fits very, very snugly in the cavity and it is dramatically harder - much, much more solid then the plastic saddle. There really isn't any comparison. The tusq saddle is a hands down major improvement.

 

So I can heartily recommend the tusq saddle. It is a no brainer. One word of caution, though,......

 

Be careful sanding. I was so immersed in getting the dimensions right in sanding the saddle, I didn't notice that I had sanded the side of my thumb off. I started bleeding all over the place and had a mess to clean up but I'm so happy with the results of the new saddle that I have to say it was worth it.

 

That's my report.

 

Spyders

[bill67]

thanks for the report I ordered a tusq saddle.