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Your cart is empty.4.6 out of 5 stars
- #49,333 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
- #60 in Acoustic & Classical Guitar Saddles
TUSQ Martin-style Compensated Saddle
Daniel P.
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2021
Sounds great. Like a bone saddle. Intonation is excellent as expected. A little tall, but that’s normal. What surprised me is how much narrower I needed to make the saddle - not end to end, that was fine - but side to side.For reference this was installed in a 2005 HD 28.
Gordon Lewis
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2021
I bought this to replace the uncompensated bridge saddle on my 30 year-old Martin 000-16. My hope was that the compensated saddle would make it possible for my open-D chords to sound in tune. Not only did it solve that problem, it also improved volume and dynamics without noticeably brightening or darkening the tone. Because I was careful to measure the width and length of the original saddle, all I had to do when I got the new one was sand it down approximately 3/32" to the right depth. What more could one want?
Customer
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2020
I put this on an older Martin D15. Have a pro install it for you, if you do it yourself be sure it bottoms out completely in the groove and use a needle file to install string grooves like your old bridge or you may get a "sitar" sound, (follow videos carefully). Grooves also increased the response once I took the strings off and put grooves in. Installed Elixer phospher bronze strings and have yet to find a new D15 that sounds better, it will increase the higher and bass frequencies a bit. I think a substantial improvement over the older bone saddle.
evm4316
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2018
Used these on my two Alvarez parlor guitars AP66 and AP70 that always seemed to have high action, the saddles were just a bit wide for the parlor slots so that was an easy fix to sand down a little on each side to keep them centered (BTW the thickness of 3/32 was perfect, had tried 2/8 version (fully compensated item) and was too thick to fit. The supplied height was quite high which is typical for any new saddle so that the end user can fit to desired string height. In my case I brought them to a friend who has a professional belt sander and took them down to what I thought would be just a little high, fortunately I guessed right! Then it was simply a matter of "fine tuning" the height with 80 grit sandpaper finishing off with 220 grit. Took three or four rounds (remember, patience so you don't overcompensate) of this and my two Alvarez parlor guitars are now wonderfully right in the sweet spot for my playing style. Also, the AP66ESHB is the acoustic electric version and I had no problem with the pickup sounding uneven in any way, the AP70 uses a K+K pure mini that was installed and also no problems with an uneven electric sound. I really like tusq saddles--I have three Taylor guitars and there is a characteristic balance and sustain that IMO can't be beat. Good luck and happy sanding!!!!!
Rick Martell
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2018
The GraphTech PQ-9110-C0 TUSQ Martin-Style Compensated Acoustic Guitar Saddle is a high-quality saddle. Based on other reports, it did seem to raise the pitch (probably not the right word) of the strings mostly (my guess) due to the fact that the material is a little stiffer that the original Pay close attention to the way the existing saddle in mounted in the guitar. You will notice that the top is cut differently on the high E than it is on the low E. Make sure you put the new saddle in the same way. Though you will find recommendations on trimming the bottom of the saddle to match the saddle you are removing, I marked the new saddle with a Sharpie and used a new flat file in a vice for course adjustments. Just make sure the bottom is perfectly flat when you are finished.
Mikeysoonerfan
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2016
I have several acoustic guitars. I bought an epiphone dr 100 back when I was first learning how to play. Bought a better guitar once I learned. The epiphone was just sitting in the corner collecting dust. I play several hours a day. My Taylor is starting to show fret wear, so I really wanted to have something to share the load. The epiphones sound quality was lacking. So I measured the saddle, bought this one sanded it down and put on some polyweb elixirs. The guitar sounds absolutely amazing compared to what it sounded like before. It replaced a plastic saddle. Cheap guitar cheap parts. This was an awesome upgrade. Play the epiphone all the time again. Really put life back into this guitar.
Stan
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2016
This is good stuff. I used it to make a replacement saddle for my old Martin D18 that my dad left to me in order to lower the strings after I installed a Fishman transducer pickup under the saddle and it was like .045" too high and hurt ones fingers and made the intonation a tad off when the strings were depressed all the way to the fretboard. This way I can keep the original old whalebone saddle in case I ever take the pickup back out . This is Not for a novice unless yuo are comfortable making your own string slots and removing material and trimming these down to the correct height, but it isn't as difficult as it sounds IF you have experience in such things and the tools needle files etc to do it with.Now my old Martin's action i awesome, easy to play ad the intonation is spot on.
Sam McG
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2012
Works exactly as advertised. Improved sustain and clarity on my mid-low level Sigma acoustic guitar. The biggest improvement was the balance in volume and tone from one string to the next (previously the highest three strings were louder and more twangy that the lower 3). The overall sound is brighter without the twang and the bass strings have more projection. I had to sand it down quite a bit, but this allowed for a nice custom snug fit and for me to lower my action to a more comfortable level. The compensated saddle also improved the innotation on my G string (previously was noticably off after the 10th fret). I also bought the Tusq bridge pins to go with it. If you have a $100-$600 guitar this would be worthwhile, in my opinion.
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