About accoustic
- Thread starter sept09
- Start date
Phil
New member
Hi sept90,
the main thing about nuts and saddles is hardness. You want the material used to be as hard as possible.
Cheaper guitars tend to come with plastic nut/saddle. Plastic is very much softer compared to more expensive materials like bone, ivory, brass, etc. The 'softness' of plastic absorbs and cushions the vibrations of your strings. Hence, adversely affecting your 'tone'.
Popular alternatives to plastic would be bone, fossilized mammoth ivory(FMI) and TUSQ, which is synthetic ivory.
I find bone to be quite bright, and FMI to be a tad warmer. Tone is subjective, so I cannot guarantee you that it will sound better to you. But it widely acknowledged that bone/FMI/TUSQ sounds 'better' and will improve sustain and articulation.
When it comes to string-gauge, the thicker gauge always sound bigger, bolder and better.
Thicker strings have more mass, and they cause your acoustic guitar's top to vibrate a lot harder and better, as compared to thinner strings.
Better and more drastic vibrations on your acoustic = bigger, better tone.
However, some people might find thicker gauges more difficult to play with. Also, with the added tension, your acoustic guitar's top might not be able to take it as well.
Cedar tops especially, cannot take too heavy gauges. The maximum I'd recommend for cedar tops is a set of gauge 12s. For spruce tops, 13s are the max I'd advise. This is due to cedar being a much softer wood than spruce, which is a whole lot stiffer and stronger.
If you slap a set of 13s on a cedar top, you'd be likely to see a drastic bellying at the lower bout.(and I'm not taking humidity into consideration.)
Personally, I use gauge 12s. They are a good compromise between tone and playability and common sense.
Gauge 11s are undoubtedly easier to play but they sound too thinny.
13s are a big no-no as I don't want to put too much stress on my top.
12s are the way to go.
the main thing about nuts and saddles is hardness. You want the material used to be as hard as possible.
Cheaper guitars tend to come with plastic nut/saddle. Plastic is very much softer compared to more expensive materials like bone, ivory, brass, etc. The 'softness' of plastic absorbs and cushions the vibrations of your strings. Hence, adversely affecting your 'tone'.
Popular alternatives to plastic would be bone, fossilized mammoth ivory(FMI) and TUSQ, which is synthetic ivory.
I find bone to be quite bright, and FMI to be a tad warmer. Tone is subjective, so I cannot guarantee you that it will sound better to you. But it widely acknowledged that bone/FMI/TUSQ sounds 'better' and will improve sustain and articulation.
When it comes to string-gauge, the thicker gauge always sound bigger, bolder and better.
Thicker strings have more mass, and they cause your acoustic guitar's top to vibrate a lot harder and better, as compared to thinner strings.
Better and more drastic vibrations on your acoustic = bigger, better tone.
However, some people might find thicker gauges more difficult to play with. Also, with the added tension, your acoustic guitar's top might not be able to take it as well.
Cedar tops especially, cannot take too heavy gauges. The maximum I'd recommend for cedar tops is a set of gauge 12s. For spruce tops, 13s are the max I'd advise. This is due to cedar being a much softer wood than spruce, which is a whole lot stiffer and stronger.
If you slap a set of 13s on a cedar top, you'd be likely to see a drastic bellying at the lower bout.(and I'm not taking humidity into consideration.)
Personally, I use gauge 12s. They are a good compromise between tone and playability and common sense.
Gauge 11s are undoubtedly easier to play but they sound too thinny.
13s are a big no-no as I don't want to put too much stress on my top.
12s are the way to go.
Last edited:
Phil
New member
I'm glad I could help!
Most expensive would be FMI, then bone and TUSQ respectively.
Organic materials will always be more expensive. FMI is fossilized mammoth ivory in the literal sense. You can imagine why it's the most expensive. At least $50-100 for the saddle alone?
Bone will be around $20 each for nut/saddle. There are different grades so the price might fluctuate.
TUSQ goes for around $13 each for nut/saddle.
The expensive portion is the service charge for installation. If you can do it yourself, by all means go ahead. But if you're not confident about sanding the saddle and filing/cutting the nut, then please send it to a professional guitar-tech to do it for you. You'd save a lot of money, time and effort in the long run.
Most expensive would be FMI, then bone and TUSQ respectively.
Organic materials will always be more expensive. FMI is fossilized mammoth ivory in the literal sense. You can imagine why it's the most expensive. At least $50-100 for the saddle alone?
Bone will be around $20 each for nut/saddle. There are different grades so the price might fluctuate.
TUSQ goes for around $13 each for nut/saddle.
The expensive portion is the service charge for installation. If you can do it yourself, by all means go ahead. But if you're not confident about sanding the saddle and filing/cutting the nut, then please send it to a professional guitar-tech to do it for you. You'd save a lot of money, time and effort in the long run.
check this out:
www.guitarsaddles.com
it'll have all the information you need.. and it's very informative as well.. it'll help u decide what would be best for you.
Point to note that saddle makes the most difference, then bridge pins, then nut.
Nuts are the most hassle to replace and cos of the lease amount of difference, most don't bother changing the nut straightaway.
Note that there are different kinds of ivory as well.. all with different character so best for you to read up.
the site i showed you has fantastic quality products.. best i've seen period!
www.guitarsaddles.com
it'll have all the information you need.. and it's very informative as well.. it'll help u decide what would be best for you.
Point to note that saddle makes the most difference, then bridge pins, then nut.
Nuts are the most hassle to replace and cos of the lease amount of difference, most don't bother changing the nut straightaway.
Note that there are different kinds of ivory as well.. all with different character so best for you to read up.
the site i showed you has fantastic quality products.. best i've seen period!
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