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Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | Bone saddles are noted for their ability to resonate to the top of the guitar, effectively transfering the string vibration. The is because of its density. My O's have both thin and regular saddles, all plastic. I wonder if anyone has ever used a bone saddle on their Ovation? It seems possible with the thin line saddle. |
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Posts: 2177
Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | Tommy, I beleive awhile back there was a thread here that mentioned a bone saddle avaiable for the wide (original) pick-up (maybe used on the 30th anniversary Custom Legend??)
You might check with Kim or John at the factory.
I've always heard that about bone also and have also wondered how big a difference in sound it would make than the plastic(derlin?) nut and saddle... |
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Posts: 55
Location: lewisburg ohio | I am also thinking about a bone saddle in my custom balladeer and my seagull. They say it makes a big difference> I have tusq in my tacoma and it sounds really great. I have also heard that some bone isnt very good while other is |
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Posts: 400
Location: North Texas | There is a ton of info concerning bone saddles online. Google for it, results aplenty. |
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Posts: 176
| Bone, Ivory and fossilized pterodactyl claw are indeed dense. However, these natural products can be inconsistent, with natural hollows and air pockets.
Tusq is dense too, not as dense as the above IMO, but it is more consistent.
Now the thing that most people don't think about is that plastic makes one sound, tusq another, corian, micarta yet another, bone, ivory, etc. make another.
Which is best is subjective. I don't want a brighter, more sustained sound on some of my guitars. I like the sound of the plastic.
Some of my guitars sound like microwaved crap on toast with the original plastic, they need Tusq or Ivory.
There is no one solution.
A related question. I have access to an old junk piano with Ivory keys. Would it be possible to epoxy the keys together to make multiple Ivory saddle blanks? It looks like two would do the trick and I should be able to get 4 blanks per key set.
Any suggestions for an epoxy or alternate method of joining the keys to saddle thickness?
If I do this anybody up for a beta test? |
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January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | Yes, a ton of info, but not much when it comes to Ovation saddles. Taylor uses tusq. I haven't seen where Ovation mentions saddle type in their specs. I wonder if this is because of Ovation's unique bridge design. |
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Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Ovation uses plastic. |
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Posts: 6192
Location: Phoenix AZ | I installed a bone saddle on my U681 and I'd be lying if I said I can hear any difference. But it makes be feel good to tell people I have a bone saddle. I have an extra wide peice of Tusq that I'm about to start milling into a saddle for the 1537. Dave |
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Posts: 35
Location: ky | i have an celbrity cc028s with bone saddle. just bought a new cc057 and the 28 sounds alot better. why i dont know. bone does make a difference in some guitars in my opinon bone is better |
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Posts: 580
Location: NW NJ | Dave:
What do you do with the pickup when you make a new saddle out of Tusq/bone? |
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June 2002
Posts: 6192
Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by worshipleader:
What do you do with the pickup when you amake a new saddle You throw it away!
My U681 is acoustic only, so no pickup to deal with. Just a straight bone saddle replacement.
My 1537 has had gender re-assignment surgery and is now acoustic only (the way high end guitars are supposed to be). All electronics have been removed and thrown into the trash. Guitar sounds amazingly better and weighs about 2 pounds less. The problem is the slot in the bridge is about 3/8 inch wide (for the pickup). So I've got a wide slab of Tusq that I want to mill to fit nicely into the slot, and then taper down to actually form the top of the saddle. Kim thinks it will split the bridge, but we'll see. Worst case somebody can probably buy a 1537 for cheap.
Dave |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I got a fossilized saddle and nut for the project guitar. For the volume and sustain there isn't much better material readily available.
....But I'm going for a good sounding "boom chuck" flat picking instrument. |
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Posts: 400
Location: North Texas | Nick, I like your idea about the ivoryply saddle. To take it one step further, you might be able to fine tune the intonation by running each string over a particular ply. If I had some material, I'd make one. Contact cement might be a good adhesive for the task.
You could record the guitar, chords and individual notes, with the factory saddle, and then duplicate the recording with the new setup. If there is improvement, it should be evident.
Meanwhile, I'm going to look in my junk pile to see if I've got any walrus tusks. |
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February 2004
Posts: 1634
Location: Warren,Pa. | Even though they say bone can have inconsistancies, every bone saddle I ever installed made the guitar sound better...it does a great job of transferring vibration to the top. It doesn't do the best job of transferring that vibration to a piezo under-saddle pickup, though. IMHO, vibration to the top is a higher priority. I would rather use bone and get a different P/U. I'm fond of using bone saddles and K&K soundboard P/U's. Anyone here who can tell me how to find a bone replacement for the original Ovation P/U, please let me know. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | wide bone saddle replacement |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | The plastic that was used was delrin and it was pretty good. I think that the bone is better for the saddles although I have a ceramic saddle in my 84 and it seems just like the bone.
Dave, I've seen where the big saddle slot has been filled with a made to size piece of walnut and then a narrow acoustic saddle routed into it. Would look and sound better, bone of course. |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | My new (old) Josh White has a bone saddle. But I can't do a before and after, and I don't know if it is original or add-on. I do know that a bone saddle and bone bridge pins brought the Martin up a whole notch. |
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July 2004
Posts: 812
Location: Hicksville, NY | Just doing a google search as advised by Buckaroo on this thread, and came across this guy who custom makes saddles. I'm not sure if he makes them for Ovations, but I guess it's worth a try?
Here's the link ...
http://www.guitarsaddles.com/ |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | I have purchased from Bob Colosi in the past. Good products, good guy. |
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October 2005
Posts: 400
Location: North Texas | I found that site too. It inspired the walrus joke. |
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Bone Saddle
