gbondo9 said:
I'm looking to replace the nut and saddle on my Seagull accoustic (and probably my wife's Art & Lutherie as well) with something from the bone/ivory category.
Couple of questions:
- Good places to buy from?
- Differences in bone and/or ivory quality that I should know about. Is one kind of bone better than another? Thing to watch out for? Both accoustics have plastic saddles/nuts on them right now.
- Can/should I do the same with my electrtic guitars? Neither of my electrics have floating bridges/whammy bars, but I do bend alot of notes (for whatever thats worth...)
Thanks,
T
Nuts need to be made to fit the guitar in question, and so you can't just buy a nut. You can buy a blank, but unless you know what you are doing you are much better off taking your guitar to a good repair person and having them made. A nut cost about $80-100 in my shop, and a saddle is about $75-80, plus the cost of the material, of course.
As for materials, you do not need, and no responsible repair person would sell you, real ivory. I, for instance, have a small stash of it (legal, of course), but I will only ever sell it to people whose guitars would have had ivory when they were originally made. Fossilized mammoth or walrus ivory is a whole different thing, but you don't need that either. It is quite expensive, and there is no sonic difference.
As for bone (which is what you should get, if you are going to do this), it is all cow bone, most of it from china, and in fact most of it is imported by the same person. She supplies all the big suppliers in the US, at any rate. Oh, and she makes really great pot stickers. Your repair person will have it on hand, and there are two varieties - bleached and unbleached. Unbleached is a bit harder, so it will last longer. It also has some brownish streaks going through it that look pretty cool (at least, I think so). If you repair person has it, ask for it; but if they don't, don't worry about it.
If you decide you really want to do it yourself, first of all remember that you will not save yourself any money. Doing it right takes some specialized tools which are kind of price, and second you will need to learn how to do it, which as far as I'm concerned means buying a book. Frank Ford's website has a good tutorial on it, but his methods tend to be better for people who are experienced. If you want to learn to do it as a beginner, you really want to buy some of Dan Erlewine's books. His methods tend to be easier for an amateur to learn. Also, you will fuck up the first couple of nuts you try, and the first few saddles too.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
