Guitar Pusher Weekly | Nuts and Saddles
Posted by Sales @GP on
TONE TALK NUTS AND SADDLES
Sometimes, the little things do a lot more than we think. A simple guitar nut and saddle may seem minimal in the structure of a guitar, but these two are the contact points of the strings to the body of your instrument. They are the ones that send all those beautiful notes pressed by your fingers, onto the strings, to the nut and saddle, then to the soundboard of your guitar. So how important are they really? In this issue, we’ll cover the different materials used in the production of nuts and saddles, how they sound on their own and how they sound on your instrument.
Plastic
Plastic nuts and saddles are used mostly in mass-produced guitars. They’re cheap, easy to manufacture and are somewhat sturdy to handle the string tension. However, it does come with a few drawbacks, since plastic is soft, it needs to be replaced after some time. The friction caused by the string when you tune and change strings eats through the plastic after some time. The tonal quality of plastic is also not that significant. In the drop test, you could hear a big difference between plastic and other materials. It lacks density and body that makes tonal transfer minimal compared to bone and synthetic bone.
Bone
Bone nuts and saddles on the other hand are used in middle to higher-end guitars. They are sturdy, have better tonal transfer and have less friction on their contact points compared to plastic. Bone has been used for centuries and has proven its value. You can clearly hear the density of the bone nut in the drop test. It has more body and weight that can handle tone transfer better. The only drawback is that since it comes from a natural source, there are inconsistencies. Bone is porous and can have cavities big enough to interfere with tone transfer. This issue is more prominent when using under-saddle pickups.
Graphtech
Graphtech NUBONE/BLACK TUSQ - these nuts and saddles are permanently lubricated, the makers made sure that friction would be the least of our worries. At the same time, their research team found the best materials to use for optimum tonal transfer producing crystal clear notes. In the drop test, you can hear that the Graphtech nut sounds like glass hitting the table. It’s consistent all throughout that it gives each string a chance to project its voice. Since their goal is to mimic natural bone and ivory, they made sure that the cons of these materials aren’t included in their blueprint. That said, they made Graphtech nuts and saddles structurally consistent, unlike its natural counterpart.
At the end of the day, it’s still a personal preference. You won't know till you try it yourself. Happy tone hunting!
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SPECIFICATIONS
Body Shape : Sire Strato Shape
Body Color : 3TS, SG, AWH
Neck Material : Roasted Hard Maple
Neck Shape : C-Shape
Scale : 25.5"
Fingerboard Material : Roasted Hard Maple
Fingerboard Radius : 9.5"
Frets : 2.7mm Medium Jumbo
String Nut : Bone Nut:42mm Width
Inlay : Abalone Dot
Neck Joint : 4-Bolt Steel Square Plate
Pickups : HSS S7 Pickup Set(Alnico5)
Electronics : Volume, Tone, 5 Way Lever Switch
Controls : Volume, Tone, 5 Way Lever Switch
Knobs : BK Strat Knob(Volume and Tone)
Bridge : S7 2-post Bridge(Steel Block and Stainless Saddle)
Tuning Gear : Sire Premium Locking Tuner
Hardware : Finish Chrome
Pick guard : White Pearl 3ply
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