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The flatpicked guitar reviews database is here to help educate people before they purchase an instrument. Of course, this is not meant to be a substitute for playing the instrument yourself!
161 reviews in the archive.
Where Purchased: Musiciansfriend.com
I have tried bridge pins made of plastic, ebony, brass, Tusq, and genuine bone. Of all these, the Tusq is the clear winner. It gives improved sustain and tone, superior to all others I have tried. The bone pins gave good sustain, but were somewhat darker in tone. I recommend Tusq bridge pins to anyone wanting to improve the tone of their acoustic guitar.
Note: Pins vary in size just a bit. I have to leave my pins slightly above the fully seated position; otherwise, they would be hard to remove when I restring the instrument.
Overall Rating: 10
Where Purchased: www.guitarsaddles.com
As Bob Colossi stated in his web site, the elephant ivory saddle is good for instruments where you want to tone down the brightness. I have a Washburn jumbo 12 string guitar with maple back and sides. It was indeed too bright, and this saddle improved the tone somewhat, and has good sustain. I previously was using a Tusq saddle; Tusq gives a bright sound.
A luthier is not required for the installation. The buyer specifies what instrument he has, and Bob makes the saddle just a bit oversize. The buyer then sands it to give desired height and thickness. This was not a problem for me, and was indeed an advantage.
My lower-cost Washburn Chinese-made instrument now sounds like what I would expect a Gibson 12-string maple instrument to sound like.
Note: This is a specialty-application saddle. For most acoustic guitars, (where one wants to keep a fair amount of brightness) my choice is Bob Colosi's West African Ivory. The latter is harder than bone, and thus bright.
Overall Rating: 8
Where Purchased: www.musiciansfriend.com
Tusq saddles are superior to the plastic saddles commonly used on lower-priced instruments. They have the advantage of low price, and gives one the ability to change the saddle himself (no luthier involvement). To my ear, Tusq is brighter than bone. My current favorite saddle is the West African Ivory, sold by Bob Colosi through www.guitarsaddles.com. However, my guitars are high quality instruments that deserve the best, and I don't mind spending some extra money to make improvements.
Overall Rating: 8
Where Purchased: www.guitarsaddles.com
I asked Bob Colosi concerning his walrus ivory picks. I wanted a bright-sounding pick, which he claimed I would get with this choice. I was disappointed in the darkness in the tone I was getting. I hate to write this in a review, but since these are expensive, I wanted to save some other buyers possible disappointment.
Note: To get brighter tone from an existing plastic pick, try filing the point so that it is a bit more pointed, and file the flat surface of the tip so it is thinner at the tip. This will give brighter tone. You can start with a medium gauge pick, and file it to make it perform like a very thin pick. This gives the player a pick that is not flimsy, but bright. My favorite brands are the "Cool" picks (white version) and the Clayton fake tortoise-shell picks.
Overall Rating: 2
Where Purchased: www.guitarsaddles.com
I was disappointed in the bone bridge pins. They give good sustain, but are somewhat darker in tone than the Tusq bridge pins. As I stated in my Tusq bridge pin review, I would go with the Tusq product for pins in most guitars. The one place I might still use these bone pins to advantage is on my bright-sounding 12-string guitar. If I want to further darken the tone (which I accomplished some already with Bob's elephant ivory saddle) I may use these pins on some of the strings.
Overall Rating: 3
Where Purchased: web site www.guitarsaddles.com
Bob Colosi's West African Ivory saddle was just what I needed for my Tacoma JR55 jumbo (rosewood back and sides) six-string guitar. After going back and forth between this and bone, I finally realize the benefits of this saddle. When you go to a jumbo instrument (like mine), you gain tone, complexity, and resonance, but at the cost of decreased brightness. Rosewood has some of this same difficulty; it has wonderful overtones and complexity, but doesn't tend to give the brightness that maple back and sides would give (maple lacks in the overtone/complexity area). I was considering selling this instrument, as it just wasn't quite bright enough. I re-installed the ivory saddle, after correcting a flatness problem I discovered on the bottom of the saddle (my error when I previously sanded to size...). The results were delightful! It dialed in the brightness that was lacking, without removing tone and complexity of sound.
This saddle is not for every instrument: If your guitar is already bright, this may make it just too bright. However, if you want to "dial-in" the tone on a guitar that is too warm / dark in tone, this may be a Godsend. For the price, it is a steal.
An added bonus: West African ivory is the hardest saddle material that is usable in the tonal range of the guitar. With this hardness, it should last a really long time!
This review supersedes my previous review for this item. (prior review has been removed and replaced with this one)
Note: The Bob Colosi saddles are made for your specific make of instrument. He deliberately makes them about .001 to 003" thicker than needed, and a bit of extra height. The buyer then sands down the saddle to the precise thickness for his specific instrument, so it will just slip in without forcing, but not have slop front & back. The height is then sanded to proper height, making sure your sandpaper is on a really flat surface! (that was my initial mistake...). use your old saddle as a guide, and dray a line across the bottom of the saddle where you want to sand it to. If you overdo it, you can salvage the saddle with an ebony shim from Bob Colosi. (yes, I have had to do that on other saddles too!). The ideal string height is 2mm for the high E string, and 3 mm for the low E string, at the 12th fret. I like to go to 2.5 mm for the high E, in case a groove wears in the saddle over time, and I need to sand it out.
A warning before I sign off... All bone and ivory saddles give the hazard of inhalation of the fine dust, which can supposedly lead to lung problems. The dust that gets into the lungs does not come out, and is not absorbed by the body. I do my saddle work outside. You should be cautious in this area, and use a face mask to be safe. Wash your clothes after the sanding job, and wash your hands. I am not offended by this risk factor, but it does need to be weighed into the equation.
I am thankful for the service Bob Colosi gives to the guitarists looking for ideal tone.
-Ken W in Portland, Oregon
Overall Rating: 10
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