Bone on the guitar...

[johneeeveee]

Here ya go:
http://www.guitarsaddles.com/

Bob makes great stuff

[geetarman]

Originally Posted by johneeeveee

Here ya go:
http://www.guitarsaddles.com/

Bob makes great stuff

A big +1 all my acoustics are fitted with Colosi saddles.

[MichaelK]

Originally Posted by GuitarBrent

Where can I get some of these?

I love it when a thread that's been dead for 18 months gets resurrected over little stuff like this! What on earth had you been searching for to find it??

Anyway, bridge and nut blanks of petrified mammoth tit and fossilized walrus balls are available from Accessories for Dilettantes.

Remember: the more you spend on esoteric crap you've never heard in actual use, the more awesome it is.

[Bob V]

Actually it's not the price you pay for an Unobtanium saddle, but the time you spend trying to find it on the internet that makes it special.

Anyway, I'm surprised no one has pointed out yet that the manufacturers of piezo or film undersaddle pickups recommend synthetic materials (like Tusq or Micarta) for the saddle since there's a possibility that an organic material like bone might be inconsistent in density and some strings won't be as loud as others. I think most luthiers wisely ignore that advice and use bone anyway.

[Structo]

As others have said the nut does not affect tone once you fret a note but the saddles affect everything.

A good bone saddle on an acoustic will make or break the tone given that the guitar is of decent quality to begin with.
But, sometimes when you install a piezo transducer under the saddle it can affect the tone negatively if not done right.
So it is definitely dependant upon the tec/ luthier's skill set whether or not it kills the tone acoustically.

[MichaelK]

Originally Posted by Bob V

there's a possibility that an organic material like bone might be inconsistent in density and some strings won't be as loud as others.

A good repairman will have a source for good, consistent, instrument-quality bone blanks.

[GuitarRuss]

Originally Posted by bobaraba

i've found it depends on the guitar whether there's an improvement or not. i've replaced tusq saddles in a couple of taylor guitars with bone, and ended up putting the tusq back in. the bone was crisper and brighter on the high end, and also added a little more sustain, but seemed to take the woody, or natural tone out of the mids. the overall change in tone wasn't worth the trade off to me. might be good for someone who plays a lot of lead stuff on the high end strings.. i would describe the over all tone as metallic. the taylor is already a bright guitar. i found tusq saddles and ebony bridge pins worked best for me with the taylors. its a personal preference, so experiment and see what you like best.

I highly recommend trying both TusQ and bone on your guitars. I always try both and it's about 50/50 for different guitars. Also, having the nut replaced with TusQ or bone is great . It changes the tone a lot too. Surprisingly enough the TusQ bridge pins make a difference too in a decent guitar. For a guitar with an under the saddle UST transducer I recommend TusQ over bone because it sounds more balanced. Even with my Bouzouki I got a lot out of getting a luthier to change the bridge and nut to TusQ.

[GuitarRuss]

A local luthier showed me something cool. He dropped the bone blanks onto a slab of stone and you can hear the tone of each one. Basically the ones that are louder are better. Most are good but some are better than others and this trick avoids a dead sounding one. Try dropping the plastic after the bone and you'll hear that it is crap at carrying vibrations.

[musicofanatic5]

Originally Posted by GuitarRuss

A local luthier showed me something cool. He dropped the bone blanks onto a slab of stone and you can hear the tone of each one. Basically the ones that are louder are better. Most are good but some are better than others and this trick avoids a dead sounding one. Try dropping the plastic after the bone and you'll hear that it is crap at carrying vibrations.

You can hold a dozen bone saddles up to a strong light and see all kinds of density variation. On most Cacamines with a pickup, I find a synthetic works best.