I am very partial to a good quality Bone
Saddle. I
have installed them going on 21 years and had great results with them,
however, there is crappy bone out there for sale and you should not use
it. Some crappy bone on the market is hard and soft and many deposits
are apparent when sanding the stuff. Some suppliers have a humidity
problem with the stuff and saddles sometimes warp causing problems
sanding evenly. The density is the soap box most manufactures harp on
and give bone a bad rap. This will sometimes make certain strings
louder and softer, even if the bridge slot is dead right. It can
happen, but for a few dollars you usually can get 2 made and try each
one and choose the best for your guitar. Many tops bow slightly when
the guitar is tuned and cause a slight arch in the bridge saddle slot
as well. If your repair person can level that slot while simulating the
top movement when tuned, the end result will be very even string to
string response. If you have to go synthetic- the Fishman saddles are
pretty good and I think graph-tech makes a nice nut material. (this is
not the black stuff-graphite).
Donated by: Tim Lawson http://www.timsguitar.com
My Luthier likes to use Tusq.
Taylor Guitars also uses this
material in
their saddles.
Tusq saddles can be found in music stores.
Bob, Gman ( o )==#