How To Make A Budget Acoustic Guitar Sound Great For Just $20.00!
By Billy Cokes, Picker's Grip
Most guitar manufacturers that produce budget priced acoustic guitars typically save costs by installing a plastic saddle and nut instead of using bone. Bone costs more than plastic. It makes good business sense using plastic saddles and nuts on value priced guitars, as it helps keep the street price lower for the consumer.
Plastic saddles are more brittle than bone and are subject to breakage over time. Plastic saddles are not high density in structure compared to bone. Bone saddles will transfer the string’s vibrational energy through the bridge and the sound board or the top of the guitar much better. You will find bone nuts and saddles on all higher end guitars for this reason.
I recently purchased a new budget Yamaha FG830 for $340.00. This is the perfect guitar for vacations and for keeping around my office desk. I won't weep buckets of tears if it gets dented or scratched, which is a plus. This model Yamaha guitar has a solid spruce top and laminated rosewood back and sides. When I first got it, I thought it sounded wonderful for the price. I tried different string brands in search for a boost of the low end. I was pretty much pleased with the purchase. Then I noticed when I would push it hard banging out full chords that it sounded a little muddy, meaning note separation was okay but not great.
I decided to do some research, so I Googled “Yamaha FG 830 bone saddles” and as luck would have it; I found a compensated bone saddle on Amazon for $20.00. I read all the reviews to make sure that it would fit this specific guitar model. After I received the saddle, I methodically and slowly sanded down the saddle to match the height of the original plastic saddle. I repeated this process about six times until it was perfect. After I installed the saddle, I noticed right away, the guitar's overall sound quality went up several notches. Now my guitar had improved note separation and playing full chords sounded much better during soft and hard strumming. The lows were better, and the highs were less shrill. The bottom line, the guitar sounded more “musical” to my ears.
With a little bit of research and for very little money, you can take your budget guitar to a higher musical level with a bone saddle replacement. And if you want to take it a step further, install bone string pins, which will also help with tuning stability and sound transference. Look up Bob Colosi for bone pins, he's the best in the business!
Happy Picking!
Comments