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Nuts and saddles preferences and why you like one over the other
Being a complete guitar freak I always make all of my guitar nuts and saddles.
A few years back i was having trouble getting my B string to sound like my other strings. The B string is the string that most perfectionist have trouble adjusting intonation to get a more true sounding note. That means for us do it your selfer’s you need to notch the saddle at that position so that you get a truer note tone as you go down the neck toward the 12th/octave fret of your finger board. This is file and sand paper work and only takes a few minutes to make the adjustment.
The nut and Saddle material that I like to use is cattle bone which come in either un bleached, a more authentic creamy/ light brown color or bleached white is a whiter tone of material.
To my ear there is a slight difference in the the two tone sounds of the material. White bone nuts and saddles are brighter sounding and unbleached bone is a warmer old style tone. There are difference’s from all so called experts and at times great raging debates over what mater is better for acoustic guitar.
The bleached bone can be more brittle and my guitar strings eat into it causing a tonal disaster, than it’s unbleached brother/sister and in my personal experience this brittleness factor is true so I prefer to work with unbleached material.
Cheaper guitars can come with plastic nuts and saddles which, personally robs them of tone and less sustain. There are some artifical materials that are said to offer good tone.
Any thoughts ?
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9 Replies
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I can’t contribute a whole lot, I’m very new to this game, I found out what a nut was about 2 years ago, I’ve known about the saddle for a lot longer but still had no idea what they were made of and what effect they have on guitar playability and tone.
I had the pleasure of replacing both the nut and saddle on my guitar a few weeks ago, thanks to your encouragement and instruction @jorgemac . It was very satisfying to make those adjustments. I was mainly aiming at improving the action on all my strings up and down the neck. But I used unbleached cattle bone and I do find it improved the tone, I am not sure what material the guitar had before, it wasn’t specified in the description of the guitar. If it was natural bone then it was most likely bleached because they were a lot more white.
Did you say you notched your saddle? I left mine alone on the exposed side, I did sand it down quite a bit because the ones I bought were very high, and I had to shorten both saddle and nut for proper fit. I have heard that some people put slots in the saddle to prevent the strings from moving up and down. Have you ever done this?
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When I first started, the web site I used to use Was the Frank Ford Fret.com site
Frank was one of the original owners of Gryphon Guitars(spelling?) In Palo Alto and did all of the repair work on all types of instruments. He started the Frets.com website and it has a huge amount of information all type of guitar repairs and what causes that weird buzzing noise your guitar is making.
Sadly Frank passed many years ago but the web site is still up. It is a 90’s style web site with out a lot of bells and whistles but is very informative. I go to it all of the time when I’m stuck on a vexing issue on one of my instruments. Check it out. Rule of thumb, If your guitar costs less than $750 and is from over seas it is a good chance that the nut and saddle is not bone.
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Palo Alto, that’s interesting. Actually one of the few places in California that I’ve actually spent some time in. I was there in ’76 and again in ’89. The headquarters of the telecommunications company my Dad worked for was in Palo Alto: Farinon which later was absorbed by Harris Corp
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Fantastic Guitar store. They are online also. Every time I drive up north to visit family I try to set time aside to visit their shop.
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Interesting (very old-school) website, I did save it to my favorites. A treasure trove of information, it seems!
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Personally, I think the nut makes more of a difference than the saddle. Bridge pins however can change the tone. Going from plastic bridge pins to metal bridge pins can add a little more zing for example. I had a Recording King guitar when I first started. I was convinced I needed a bone nut instead of the plastic nut currently on the guitar. I was fairly disappointed when I got it back. It did sound a little better, but not the difference I was expecting it to make. I’ve gravitated to Martin guitars as I feel they have the best combinations of tonewoods, nuts, saddles etc.. They just sound better, and seem to pair the materials for optimum tone. I was a big Taylor fan when I first started. The instruments are well made, have very good playability, but just don’t sound as “good”. I currently have four Martins. D-28, 000-18, 00-28, 0X2E. I play all of them almost daily.
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Martins are great guitars, I have a 000-28EClapton I bought in Oklahoma City, I think I 2009 that I dearly love, 000-15M that has a wonderful tone and an Sc-13 that I purchased at Gryphon soon after they came out. I love the playability of the DC-13 but I do wish it had better quality wood. Its tone doesn’t compare to to the other Martins. I’m thought of asking Martin to make me a custom SC-13 but am afraid of the price.
I do have A Taylor 12 string that I don’t play much, a Nylon 712 that I do play a lot, and another 712. You are right about the tone of the Taylor vs the Martin. If you want old school tone Martin is much better. Too bad cause the playability of the Taylors is outstanding.
My Favorite’s currently are all 3 of My Larrivee’s and my Yairi FYM66 all mahogany. I have a hard time putting the Yairi down. Fantastic tone, build quality and playability. Also Have A Yairi Parlor Pym66 all mahogany that I can noodle on propped up in bed. Try to find a Yairi fym66HD used if you want an complete folk style guitar.I had to look for over a year until I finally found one.
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Lol, sounds like you also have GAS. I think I’ve been through 15 guitars in the 5 years I’ve been playing. Currently down to 6. Just sold my Fender Strat and amp. I’ve determined I’m an acoustic guy. The electric was fun, but I just didn’t bond to it like the acoustic.
I wish we could all jam together sometime.
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Way too many Guitars amps pedals books, cd’s. I live on the central Cal coast and visit S.F. a few times a year, as I have family up there. Always looking for pickers to jam with.
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