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Hello all. Recently I decided to upgrade my guitar saddles to bone from the original Tusq (synthetic) ones. I have never done a project like this before so I figured that I would film it and then share it with the site. That way if there are anothers that were thinking of doing the same thing they would have a point of reference. Here are some quick notes.

Guitar- 2009 Taylor DN8
- Sitka Spruce Top and EIR back and sides
Strings - Elixir medium guage Phosphor Bronze (5 weeks old)
Saddle - replacing stock Tusq saddle with Bone

The main reason I wanted to do this was to get a better tone. Although I was happy with the sound I was getting I still wanted to see if I could make some improvents. Not to mention that this was a heck of a lot cheaper than getting another guitar. I had read about and listened to samples of bone saddles and decided to jump in. What you will find in these two videos is the process it took to get this done. In the first video I play some open strings and a few chords and fingerpicking patterns with the old saddle and then take you through the steps of fitting the new saddle. In the second video I install the saddle and then go through the same, or close to, the sound test I used in the first video for comparison. You'll see a microphone in the video as I had intended to record the guitar with that but never hit the record button. So what you hear is all the audio being picked up by the camera's microphone. I was going to put the saddle manufacture's contact information here but didn't know if that was authorized by TG. So if you want further information on that please PM me and I'll send it over to you. I hope this is usefull.

Supplies needed:

Bone saddle
150 grit sandpaper
400 grit sandpaper
tape
pencil


Part 1


Part 2




MarkM

Hi Mark,

Great video. I'm not sure I can hear the difference in the video, but if you are noticing a difference live, that's great. I recently had a luthier replace the saddle on my Martin -- but, for other reasons, and it was bone before and bone afterwards.

On a side note, for anyone thinking about replacing their plastic bridge pins, unless you are doing it for visual reasons, don't bother. The only difference I found was that the plastic ones fit better.

-Stuart

For those who want to jump back and for to compare:

Before: Part 1 1:27
After: Part 2 5:16

Thanks Mark. Very interesting to watch the entire process. Besides the tonal differences did you notice any difference in the action and/or intonation?

Thanks for putting up the videos, Mark. They were both interesting and informative.

Cool vid Mark

Q, did the bone bridge come with the compensated G string bit ? like on the original.

RicksPick

Thanks all.

Stuart - Thanks. Yeah this turned out to be more of an instructional video as I never recorded the guitar through the mic. To my ears there is a pretty big difference. Especially the sustain.

Daryl - Thank you. By sizing the new saddle to the same height as the original TUSQ one I have no differences in the action or intonation.

Dennis - Thanks I'm glad you liked them.

RicksPick - Thanks. Yes the new bone came with the same compensation on the B string as the original did. The guy did that at his shop to Taylor's specs.




I did the same process today with my 714 LTD and the results are spectacular. This guitar has light guage strings on it and it sounds wonderful.


MarkM

Mark,

This is a very good demonstration. It's very good of you to take the time to share this with everyone. I have not changed out a saddle, yet, and will remember this post when I finally (it's inevitable) tackle it.

Thanks for posting.
Hydroman52

Very Cool Project Mark. I was surprised you didn't make a comment about the odor of the Bone dust (lol)

I couldn't hear a major difference but everything I have heard of Tusq is that it is about the best synthetic you can use as its tone is very close to bone.

I say give the nut a shot now. When I built my project guitar, I was a bit wary but it turned out to be very straight forward. With a couple basic tools you can do it.

A quick tip for you, If you have a Dremel or something similar you can polish that saddle up to a high gloss It really makes it stand out, very cool effect.

Great Job! Thanks for posting.

Bill J