So I decided to fiddle a bit with my Fender acoustic. It's a Fender DG20ce, and it has a plastic nut with a plastic compensated saddle. Now, seeing as I have no idea how to shape nut and saddle blanks, I was able to find a compensated saddle of tusq that was the correct dimension for my guitar. With some sanding, it w ill fit nicely. But the nut's another story. I was shocked to find, on the Elderly Instruments website, a Taylor Tusq replacement nut with the exact dimensions of the nut on my Fender. Seeing as both the saddle and nut are relatively cheap, i bought both. The saddle i am not worried about. I will have the old one in case something goes wrong. But I want to know, do I risk doing anything bad to the guitar with the nut that may need to be fixed by a pro? I know that the nuts arent held on by much glue, but do i run the risk that the new nut wont be right even though the dimensions i measured are pretty darn exact (or as near to it as i can tell)?
I feel confident I can do this, but I'd still like to know any risks.
I made a saddle from bone to replace a plastic saddle, but never tried the nut. I would say go ahead and try it, you can always put the old one back on if you don't like the sound. Just experiment, it's fun.
Tusq is still plastic, BTW. :D
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
true, it is a synthetic, but i imagine it's better than just a chunk of regular ole plastic anyday.
I'll let you all know how it goes when the parts come in the mail
It's just another "regular old plastic." A rose by any other name... :lol:
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
oh...i was under the impression that it was man-made ivory. A friend of mine's father has a Sigma that he made a real ivory nut and saddle for, and I had played it both before and after he did that and in my mind the ivory sounded superior. I know making my own nut and saddle from bone is out of the question cos im not that handy, but i figured that the man-made ivory material would produce at least somewhat close to the real ivory tone i liked. Plus, it all came pre-slotted and compensated, so i figured why not.
am i totally off here? will the tusq make no difference from the current materials?
Tusq will make a significant difference in sound over garden variety plastic. So will corian, micarta, bone, walrus tusk.
The big difference is density and consistency. Tusq is denser than ordinary plastic saddles and more consistent than natural products.
Personally I like it.
thanks nick...now i feel better about my upcoming project.
Fender's website did not specify the material used for the saddle and nut, so I assumed it was normal plastic. So as not to make an @$$ of myself, I emailed them and asked for the specs regarding the nut and saddle and they verified it was plastic. So I'm looking forward to see what teh Tusq does to it.
My Martin has a Corian nut and a Micarta saddle, and i think its just great. i play alot of open chords, so it should have a big impact, i should hope...now if the parts would just arrive in the mail.
You could always experiment with different materials. You'll be surprised how it can effect the out come.
Joe
On another guitar forum I visit everyone speaks very highly of this guy:
He sells complete blanks as well as ready made (adjust yourself for perfect fit) saddles, and nuts & bridge pins. I plan on replacing the Tusq saddle on my Taylor at some point as it has a tiny nick on the b string. I've just had the guitar set up and the luthier made sure the string isn't sitting in the nick, I guess its a bad thing. Not sure which saddle to go for, I'll probably just try bone.
I replaced the plastic saddle on my Yamaha acoustic with Tusq and it made a very notable difference in sustain as well as clarity of the individual strings. Midtones that were previously a bit muddy became much more clear.
I previously thought my guitar was surprisingly mellow for one with an Englemann spruce top and rosewood back/sides, but now it really comes alive. I compared it to a much-more-expensive Breedlove and it stood its own. :)
That being said, I recently played a mid-range Blueridge with bone nut and saddle, and the sustain was incredible. I'd probably use bone next time.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
I replied to this the other day but it is one of the posts that got lost. I don't think all of your question was answered so I will post it again.
Part of your question was "do I risk any damage to the guitar"? The simple answer is no as long as you are cautious. It may be difficult to get the nut off. You should take a sharp knife and score all around the nut so no paint is adhering to it. Don't try to lift the nut up and risk lifting the surface of the neck just try to push it out the side.
Save the old nut as a reference and to go back to if necessary.
nils...i had seen on the net, frets.com maybe, that you should knock the nut off using a block of wood and a light hammer. it said to use the wood up against the fretboard side of the nut and lightly tap. i intend to hang on to the old nut, so i can reference it and also so i can have it in case somrthing were to happen to the new one down the line.
nils...i had seen on the net, frets.com maybe, that you should knock the nut off using a block of wood and a light hammer. it said to use the wood up against the fretboard side of the nut and lightly tap. i intend to hang on to the old nut, so i can reference it and also so i can have it in case somrthing were to happen to the new one down the line.
That way scares me a little when the nut is in a slot. I prefer to go side to side but a block of wood would work that way also as long as it is not wider than the nut.
the saddle came in the mail today. I'm not sure if it's the right size...I can't tell for sure right now cos the guitar's in the shop on a repair. 3 frets have come loose. I'm hoping Fender will agree to pay for it, because seeing as it's less than a year old, I believe it should fall under the limited lifetime warranty for defects in workmanship. The guy i took it to, who is an authorized fender person, deemed it to be a defective seating of the frets. Anyways...
I'm impressed with how the material itself feels. It's so much heaver than the old saddle. I can almost tell just by holding it that it'll sound better on the guitar. My only concern is that it's not long enough. I will hang on to it regardless, it's a pretty standard size and would prolly fit in future guitars i may one day own. I know Graphtech sells them in like 20,000 sizes, so i might have to get another one.
