Is changing nut and / or bridge to bone an upgrade?

[Steve]

Something I've never understood is why people change things on their guitar.

When you bought it, it had a sound that made you say "This is the one". It's what made you buy it.

Anytime you change anything; strings, nut/saddle, you're altering the very thing which made you buy the guitar.

My Martin came with Martin SP's on it. I've tried other strings, and always come back to those. My Taylors came with Elixir Strings and, despite trying other strings, have Elixirs on them today.

But strings are easy. It's a simple exercise to change a set of strings. Changing a nut, for instance, is a commitment of sorts, and it'll change the very thing that we all love about our guitars: The sound that made us buy them.

[sachi]

Something I've never understood is why people change things on their guitar.

When you bought it, it had a sound that made you say "This is the one". It's what made you buy it.

That's certainly a valid point of view.

In my case, when I bought my GC-5 I was discussing it with the shop owner from the beginning – I told him I liked it but the treble was a bit overbearing. I asked him if another set of strings could bring up the bass a bit. He said sure, try these D'Addarios (EXP PBs.) So based on that I bought the guitar, changed the strings, and was quite satisfied.

Later, after reading all the threads about different saddle materials on the AGF and UMGF, I decided to see what my GC-5 would sound like with a different saddle. I talked to Bob Colosi about it and decided to go with a bone saddle based on his recommendation. The saddle made a hair difference in the sound – again it appeared to me that the bass was a bit improved, which to my ears was a good thing – but the main difference was that the sustain and overtones were improved. More overtones but also more clarity. It was really lovely; the Taylor chime is still there but everything is balanced and clear. It was certainly a worthwhile change for me.

I also put a bone saddle in my Voyage-Air, which has laminated back and sides. Now, I bought that guitar because it folds, and not because I was completely sold on the sound. I'd tried the all-laminated model and it seemed a bit compressed. After reading reviews at the AGF I decided that the solid-top model was the one to get. So I bought a used one from another AGF member, and again tried a bone saddle from Bob Colosi. And that made an impressive difference to the sound of the guitar - it increased the sustain and overtones noticeably, and also gave the sound a rounder, fuller quality. It also helped the note differentiation.

So, my experience has been that a change in saddle is inexpensive and can improve an already-good guitar.

Changing strings and saddles is cheap, and it is a fun way to see how your guitar responds.