Ebony Saddles For Tele?

[Skip Ellis]

Anybody done it? Seen any? Might be fun to try........might have to make some; have to figure out a way to make an ebony copy of the brass Wilkinson saddles which are my favorites. Thoughts?

[Vihar]

What do you aim to achieve with them?

[Skip Ellis]

What do you aim to achieve with them?

The same reason you change an ES175 bridge from TOM to rosewood or ebony.

[Vihar]

The same reason you change an ES175 bridge from TOM to rosewood or ebony.

I would be afraid that at the size of a regular Telecaster saddle, the ebony would split at one or all of the holes. The threads would fail as well without metal inserts, the strings would simply push the saddles down on the bridge plate. Maybe finding a kind of plastic that's got similar mechanical properties to ebony would be more practical as far as avoiding splits goes. For example POM (Delrin). That still wouldn't solve the string pressure problem though, unless maybe if you used very light strings, but I doubt it would be stable enough. But what if you filed the top of metal saddles flat, and glued wood or plastic on top of them? Or route slots in them, so you could insert your own saddles?

[Vihar]

Check this out: JP WoodTone | 2023

They stabilize ebony with acrylic polymers in vacuum under high pressure, or use vera (lignum vitae) wood, which is much harder to begin with. The tops are stainless steel fret inserts, so they don't wear out quickly.

[RomanS]

It's a Tele, and the saddle is ebony - but I guess that's not what you are looking for...

After I had assembled this partscaster (the body is hollow, BTW), I found that with the original Bigsby aluminum bridge it sounded a bit too twangy for the tone I was going for (1940s/early 50s country/Western swing/rockabilly - think Grady Martin), so I carved this from a piece of ebony, and it worked out perfectly, still plenty bright, but without the metallic twang, sounds almost like an archtop...

[rob taft]

I'm not aware of any wood telecaster saddles but I would try using a graphtech saddle.

Graph Tech String Saver Saddle IOS 3-piece Telecaster Compensated | Musician's Friend

[Woody Sound]

What do you aim to achieve with them?

I've put ebony or rosewood saddles on semis or solids many times. Definitely mellows out the tone.

[sgosnell]

What RomanS posted is far more practical than trying to make the standard Tele barrels. The wood might hold up, but I don't think the threads would last very long. It might be possible to use oak dowels or something similar, which are readily available and cheap. The threads would be the main issue that I see, assuming a good drill press is available to make the holes.

[Cunamara]

+1 re: GraphTech saddles. I've used them on all my Teles and my Stratishcaster.

[Woody Sound]

Check this out: JP WoodTone | 2023

They stabilize ebony with acrylic polymers in vacuum under high pressure, or use vera (lignum vitae) wood, which is much harder to begin with. The tops are stainless steel fret inserts, so they don't wear out quickly.

But that's still metal to metal contact.

[RomanS]

What RomanS posted is far more practical than trying to make the standard Tele barrels. The wood might hold up, but I don't think the threads would last very long. It might be possible to use oak dowels or something similar, which are readily available and cheap. The threads would be the main issue that I see, assuming a good drill press is available to make the holes.

Yes, the threads might not hold up.
What about going Danelectro-style, with a single wooden saddle held in place by string pressure - you'd have to determine your ideal action once, though, because you won't be able to raise it after the saddle is done; and adjustment for intonation would also be rather limited (just like on an archtop).

[whiskey02]

I love it; every time you think some crazy thought related to a guitar, someone on this forum has already done it?!

I've put ebony or rosewood saddles on semis or solids many times. Definitely mellows out the tone.

[lammie200]

+1 re: GraphTech saddles. I've used them on all my Teles and my Stratishcaster.

Same here. Perfect for me.

[Vihar]

But that's still metal to metal contact.

Yep, though very low mass for those tiny pieces, so they act mainly as a "surface hardener". It sure has some effect on the tone, but maybe not as much as it leads us to believe. I've found his site by making a search on the topic and his post came up on the Telecaster forum: How we make the JP Woodtone saddles by John Page | Telecaster Guitar Forum

[Woody Sound]

I love it; every time you think some crazy thought related to a guitar, someone on this forum has already done it?!

My NYSS and EXSS. Note the ebony saddle I put on the NYSS, since it was already the more "woodier" sounding of the two, with its spruce top. (I no longer own either. Kinda mad that I let the NYSS go.)