Nylon Replacement Saddles Sound for Gibson Archtops

[Neyzensia]

Anyone tried comparing Nylon Saddles with regular Nickel on their Gibson Archtops tune-o-Matic?
I have a Tal Farlow that’s a bit punchy overall and someone suggested trying the Nylon Allparts.
I just ordered a set to try out and am curious if anyone had really compared....

[Cavalier]

I did this on my 58 ES 125 before I went to a rosewood bridge and liked the result. It is a more natural sound without harsh overtones.The nylon saddles went back onto the SG where they work with the Vibrola and warm up the sound.

[Rob MacKillop]

Nylon saddles are great, I'm a big fan of them.

[lammie200]

I have Graphtec Stringsaver saddles on my Casino Coupe. Must be similar to nylon. I like them. They tame the attack spike.

[Franz 1997]

In the late 50s, Gibson started making the nuts from the same stuff (nylon 66) on some midrange archtops and semis. It's as durable as bone, surprisingly; the nut on my L4 from that era shows no wear.

[citizenk74]

My mid-60s ES-345 came with nylon saddles and flatwound strings (also a very badly cut nut, but that's a different story). I eventually swapped out the saddles for metal ones, mostly because I could, but I would gladly change back to nylon saddles for their mellower tone.

[Jazzstdnt]

I have those or something similar, on one of my archtops. I prefer them to the gold plated metal ones that they replaced.

It's kind of a compromise between metal tun-o-matic with effective intonation but also bright and brassy tone, and compensated wood with it's sub-par intonation but pleasing tone.

It works.

[Jazzstdnt]

Found it. This is what I have.

AVR2G - TonePros Replacement ABR-1 Tuneomatic with "G Formula" saddles | TonePros

[Neyzensia]

Found it. This is what I have.

AVR2G - TonePros Replacement ABR-1 Tuneomatic with "G Formula" saddles | TonePros

Interesting! I wonder if those saddles are different material than the basic nylon saddle set I bought from Allparts above? I don’t see the “G Formula” saddles sold without the bridge. The description reminds me of TUSQ nuts that are marketed as self lubracating...

[neatomic]

tone aside, the nylon saddles just don't wear as well...with a round steel string under high tension the slots can really get eaten up...also the intonation adjustment screws work havoc on the tiny nylon threads if you adjust your intonation regularly...

if you dont' like tuneamatic zing try a rosewood saddle...for tone!!...intonation is a different issue...hah

cheers

[Cavalier]

My set suggests nylon may be more durable than rosewood. Once I find strings that work I don't need to play with the intonation much. Tone wise it might even be better for some guitars, especially on chord melody where you might want to avoid a murky sound. As always it comes down to the instrument, player and strings. Having all options to try is a good thing.

[neatomic]

^ but rosewood is infinitely more workable...even a drop of water can raise a slot in rosewood...or a fine sanding with standard sandpaper...nylon is not as easy...agree tho, nice to have options...graphite, bone, different woods...but i always choose in favor of the masters..they used ebony, rosewood and og gibby plated brass tuneamatics...change to synthetic nylon was a budget $$$ consideration!!!


cheers

[sgosnell]

The masters used what they had available. Nylon was not available. Nylon 66 is very stable, and very durable, moreso than any species of wood.

[neatomic]

The masters used what they had available. Nylon was not available. Nylon 66 is very stable, and very durable, moreso than any species of wood.

used, based on centuries of instrument making data!!!!

not




plastic saddles are reduced to an allparts specialty item...no major guitar makers use'm..that ought tell you something...cost , efficiency & warranty wise!

a mrs. robinson era plastics is the future belief!! since abandoned or never accepted by quality luthiers

cheers

ps- bird played a plastic alto on occasion..doesnt mean he preferred it..pawnshop woes!!

[Cavalier]

Plastic is your friend. Masters are the people who did the best they could with what was available in their time without being afraid to innovate and take things to the next level. Now for everybody who says no way I say have you really tried it because that is what is asked here. Me, I'll put whatever works best on any guitar.

[Franz 1997]

tone aside, the nylon saddles just don't wear as well...with a round steel string under high tension the slots can really get eaten up...also the intonation adjustment screws work havoc on the tiny nylon threads if you adjust your intonation regularly...

I've had a 60s nylon TOM on an archtop with a high bridge angle for a long time; there's been no saddle wear at all, with 12s. But the saddles are prone to splitting down the middle, if slightly mismatched with the adjusting screw.

I read somewhere - might have been on the 335 blog- that nylon saddles were introduced to cut down on rattle from the metal saddles.

[Neyzensia]

Thx for the input guys! Out of sheer curiosity alone, I’m going to order the AVR2G - TonePros Replacement ABR-1 Tuneomatic with "G Formula" saddles set. Can get them for about $65 on Reverb. It Will make it easer to A/B on my Tal Farlow. Overall being a new heavily lacquered laminate guitar, I’m hoping they will mellow the tone a hair.
I’ll post back results...

AVR2G - TonePros Replacement ABR-1 Tuneomatic with "G Formula" saddles | TonePros

[ruger9]

Interesting that the new Collings 470JL Julian Lage has nylon saddles...