Tusq saddles?

[Analog Assassin]

I've got a Yamaha FGX-413SC and i'm looking to improve its tone a little bit. I just had it for around the house but now I've been drafted into playing it at church and I was thinking about trying Tusq saddles and bridge pins, maybe the nut also.

[aaland_brian]

Well if the guitar has plastic nut, saddle, and bridge pins it will make a very noticeable difference, especially if it has a undersaddle pickup.

[in a little row]

Well if the guitar has plastic nut, saddle, and bridge pins it will make a very noticeable difference, especially if it has a undersaddle pickup.

Couldnt put it any better myself...


j

[Analog Assassin]

Sounds good! BTW, this Yamaha is really an underrated guitar. I got it for about $400 and when I was shopping, there was nothing in GC that sounded better except for a used Martin, which they were asking $2,000 for. The Martin sounded better, but not $1,600 better.

[exhaust_49]

There's nothing wrong with tusq for a nut or saddle. You'll hear from different guitarists (cork sniffers) that bone or ivory sounds better but to my ears tusq sounds better. Always trust your own ears. I also use tusq because I have an under saddle pickup and tusq is more constant than any natural material.

[mel]

I have just replaced the bone saddle in my guitar, with a TusQ saddle that I shaped myself. The bone was the original equiment from new, even tho it had a B-Band UST (B-Band recommend against using natural materials like bone with their USTs)
I have to say I prefer the sound of the TusQ, both accoustically and electrically. There seems to be better balance and seperation of the individual strings, I can hear the notes of a chord easier, so less muddied.
My other guitar is a Larrivee, which I fitted a B-Band A2.2 system, with UST and AST, that sounds even better with the factory fitted GraphTech saddle.
I wonder at times if bone is like the emperors new cloths.......:NUTS
Mel

[archiestone]

I replaced a stock plastic saddle on a Simon & Patrick SP6 with a TUSQ saddle and it improved the brightness remarkably.