Taylor Wave Compenated Saddle

[Saxacat]

Thought I would try a bone saddle in my GA-Ke, so I ordered a Taylor wave compensated saddle, which arrived today.

However, when I took it out of the packaging I noticed the top was quite rough and serrated, should it be like that?

Here's a pic:


Saddle by buzzardops, on Flickr

This is taken looking at the top of the saddle with the treble side on the right and the bass side on the left; should it be that uneven on the top?

Would appreciate some advice, thanks.

[Bill Evans]

Definitely not, I'd say! See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbmDafNpr98.

Good luck!   Bill

[Cindy]

It looks like something gnawed on it. So far I've purchased 1 Taylor bone saddle and 2 Bob Colosi WAHI saddles, and none were like that. I'd call customer service...

[S MS Picker]

Definitely a cull. send it back.
Steve

[Saxacat]

Thanks everyone. I've emailed the picture to Taylor Europe, so we'll see what they say on Monday.

Cheers

Eddie

[Saxacat]

Well I've spoken to Taylor Europe. They have told me that Taylor wave compensated bone saddles are not sold as ready to go items that will just need the base sanding (as I believed); they will always need the top of the saddle to be 'finished' as well. So basically, if I’m not confident to work on the top of the saddle (which I’m not) then I’ll have to get a luthier to do it for me.

So I'm now thinking I should of gone to Bob Colosi 

[S MS Picker]

Well I've spoken to Taylor Europe. They have told me that Taylor wave compensated bone saddles are not sold as ready to go items that will just need the base sanding (as I believed); they will always need the top of the saddle to be 'finished' as well. So basically, if I’m not confident to work on the top of the saddle (which I’m not) then I’ll have to get a luthier to do it for me.

So I'm now thinking I should of gone to Bob Colosi 

That sucks, and I don't believe them. You might as well build it yourself if that's the case. Ask Cindy what hers needed.
Steve

[Saxacat]

Sometimes you need to be assertive rather than passive-aggressive to get what you want when making a complaint.

'Assertive' - 'Passive-Aggresssive'?    I was just me  .

Strictly speaking I wasn't complaining, I was enquiring. The guy’s reply was not what I was expecting, but I'm not going to call the bloke a liar just because he's told me something I didn't want to hear. I did tell him his explanation was contrary to what I'd been informed before the purchase; he apologised, saying I’d been given incorrect information. After I thought about the options for a while, I informed them I wanted to return the saddle and get a refund; they lose a small sale, I look elsewhere for a bone saddle, no harm done and no bad feelings 

[S MS Picker]

Sounds like you've resolved the issue.
Steve

[Saxacat]

Sounds like you've resolved the issue.
Steve

Hi Steve,

Yes thanks, just need to decide now whether to order a Bob Colosi saddle. The only thing that puts me off, is the hassle that can sometimes occur when importing things into the UK.

[Cindy]

Sounds like you've resolved the issue.
Steve

Hi Steve,

Yes thanks, just need to decide now whether to order a Bob Colosi saddle. The only thing that puts me off, is the hassle that can sometimes occur when importing things into the UK.

At this point, it might be well worth the hassle so you can get an EXCELLENT saddle from Bob. I forgot now which string(s) the wave saddle corrects, but are you certain you need that style? Are you having intonation problems on any of your strings, and if so, have you been using a regular bone saddle or a wave saddle up to this point? It's only good to have a wave saddle if you are experiencing intonation problems on a certain string(s), but like I said, I can't remember which ones are affected.

[Saxacat]

Hi Cindy,

As I understand it, the Taylor wave compensated saddle is a straight replacement for their standard TUSQ saddle, it may require some height adjustment, but the compensation is the same as the TUSQ (this is what I was told by Taylor Europe before buying the saddle). I don’t have any intonation problems and wanted the bone saddle just for the (possible) improvement in tone.

A couple of years ago I took a trip to Scotland, in order to get a highly recommended luthier up there, to fit a bone saddle to my Yamaha L series. The Yamaha was a nice sounding guitar before the work, but it was significantly improved by the change. Unfortunately, the Scottish option is not available anymore. Now the Yamaha was, at the time, my pride and joy guitar wise and I was very nervous of anyone working on it; the Taylor cost six times as much and the thought of any non-Taylor guitar technician working on it makes me sweat a bit.

So my reasoning was, if I can get a bone saddle that I can just swap with the TUSQ (once the height is adjusted) then I would see if that would bring the same level of improvement to my GA as it did to my Dred. If I don’t like the change, I just put the TUSQ saddle back, and other than the cost of the saddle, I’m no worse off.

[Cindy]

Hi Cindy,

As I understand it, the Taylor wave compensated saddle is a straight replacement for their standard TUSQ saddle, it may require some height adjustment, but the compensation is the same as the TUSQ (this is what I was told by Taylor Europe before buying the saddle). I don’t have any intonation problems and wanted the bone saddle just for the (possible) improvement in tone.

A couple of years ago I took a trip to Scotland, in order to get a highly recommended luthier up there, to fit a bone saddle to my Yamaha L series. The Yamaha was a nice sounding guitar before the work, but it was significantly improved by the change. Unfortunately, the Scottish option is not available anymore. Now the Yamaha was, at the time, my pride and joy guitar wise and I was very nervous of anyone working on it; the Taylor cost six times as much and the thought of any non-Taylor guitar technician working on it makes me sweat a bit.

So my reasoning was, if I can get a bone saddle that I can just swap with the TUSQ (once the height is adjusted) then I would see if that would bring the same level of improvement to my GA as it did to my Dred. If I don’t like the change, I just put the TUSQ saddle back, and other than the cost of the saddle, I’m no worse off.

Saxacat, I just looked on Taylor's site and see that now the only bone saddle they offer is a wave compensated saddle. On Bob Colosi's site, his Taylor wave compensated saddle is listed as an RTaylor saddle while his regular replacement Taylor bone saddle I don't think has the wave compensation.

Does anyone know if Taylor now only uses a bone wave compensated saddle?

[Cindy]

I just spent some time on the phone with one of Taylor's employees to find out more information on this. He was able to view this pic (which is enlarged from what a saddle would look like with the naked eye) then he went and looked at some of their saddles for comparison. He says because the pic is enlarged so much, the unevenness is magnified, but the ones he looked at just now DO have a slight unevenness that isn't so noticeable without magnification. If Taylor were to install one of their own saddles in a guitar, they would buff out the saddle more. He also said their saddles (and nuts) should be installed by a luthier and ALL of them should be buffed out prior to installing. That might be where Bob Colosi's products differ from Taylors...Bob's saddles come completely finished on the tops.

Then I asked about the bone wave compensated saddle vs. the TUSQ non-wave saddle. This gets pretty interesting. The company that manufactures the TUSQ saddles worked with Taylor to manufacture the saddles to Taylor's specifications. The bone wave compensated saddles are made with a computer written program which is even more accurate and the points of contact with the strings is as close to perfect as you can get on a Taylor. He says the bone saddles are machined one at a time which is why they cost more (plus the fact that bone is a more expensive material than TUSQ, too).

So anyone who buys a Taylor bone saddle will need to have its top edge buffed out a little prior to installation as well as having it buffed all over and having its height adjusted.

[Saxacat]

Cindy thanks for this info. Had I known all this I would have gone straight to Bob Colosi (or maybe not bothered at all).

The Taylor saddle I received would require more than just buffing. Although the photo is a close up, it is very sharp and serrated to the touch.  The D and G strings would have sat on the serrated edge. I did consider trying to just take the edge off and even got a piece of bone from a local butcher to play with. But I don’t see how I could have smoothed that edge without changing where the strings would rest. I’m sure a luthier could easily have smoothed it, and set it up, although even that would change the original resting positions for the strings? This would seem to defeat the object of the computer accuracy in the manufacturing.

Of course me playing with a bit of bone from the butchers is hardly scientific, as I’m sure bone density and hardness vary quite a lot.

I’ve decided to try and ring Bob prior to ordering and explain what I’m trying to do, and see what he advises.

The next time I get a great idea to do something to my guitars, I'm going to read through this thread; It'll remind me to just be content with what I've got 

Again, thanks for your help and time, it’s very kind of you to help me out with this  .