Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello, this is my second thread about my acoustic guitar: a Takamine EG320SC.

I'm back to ask about some little upgrade about it. It's an old model, and I don't have all the details and the experience to say what exactly I need to find new fitting parts.

The part I would like to upgrade are: nut and saddle + piezo, maybe later bridge pins and tuners.

(About the tuners, I don't have problem with the stock tuners, so I'm not sure if I want a new set, I guess them are too much expensive for this my guitar.
I'm not sure about the bridges pin, too. The stock are probably made of plastic, and I'd like the idea to get a new set, made of wood or something better than plastic. But again, I guess them are too much expensive considering, what I image, just a little improving to the sound.)

I found some information about this nut Graph Tech PQ 6116-00, that could fit fine (of course, I have to sand it for the right width and maybe height).

What it could be important for me is the saddle.
The stock saddle in this guitar is peculiar. I talk about it in my other thread: viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=54678&hilit=takamine#p717791

I hope I can replace it with a traditional saddle, and in this case I need a new piezo, too.
The specification about the size of the saddle in the new Takamine G series model could be different in my guitar. I found the Graph Tech PQ 9400-00, where at least the shape remind me the original one. (Even with this I have to sand it, and set the right height).
And I have to fine a piezo to set under the saddle. I don't need a high quality one, just one not worst than the original piezo and that can fit with the guitar and the saddle.
(I have installed a pair of contact piezo, it sounds fine, I have just to use a preamp made by me to boost volume and cut low end).

So, I need some help to find the right new parts, please.

Hi Linde,
People have tested bridge pins of different materials and found plastic pins to work as well or better than those made of most other materials.
Cow bone is considered to be one of the best materials for nuts and saddles and nut and saddle blanks can be found on eBay and from Luthier Suppliers from which you can shape and custom fit a nut or saddle. Some people get cow bones from a pet store or butcher shop and cut their own blanks, but for most of us that is too much work.

Thank you.
Actually, I am not a luthier, and I really prefer to start from something that is close to fit in my guitar without too much work.
I'd like a nut I have to sand just a bit the side or the height, and the same for the saddle, size close to the original saddle and ready intonation shape.

I can wait to decide about bridge pins.

Hi Linde,
Stew Mac might have some offerings that will get you close, but unless you are willing to put some effort into fitting the pieces you may be better off with what you have.

Linde, this is way more work than you realize. No off-the-shelf nut or saddle will fit any existing guitar without the appropriate tools and know-how. Do some Google searching on the subject matter.


Pierre
Guitares Torvisse

_________________
Pierre Castonguay

Some effort is ok, I knew it.
I just want to get something will be fit fine, and not totally useless and wrong.
Especially about the saddle, I should replace it with something different, if you know this guitar (or seen the picture in the thread a linked early).
I want to be sure I can find something that is at least compatible with the bridge and a new piezo, without buy a totally blank saddle (because I can't work on it) and make a new piezo sounds with the new saddle without bad surprise.

Short answer, you likely won't.


Pierre
Guitares Torvisse

_________________
Pierre Castonguay

I really don't get where's the problem. I watched several video where nuts and saddles are replaced in acoustic guitar just after sand them a bit, or something more then a bit, but just that.

Where's the problem? Is it the saddle+piezo combo?

There is no "problem" but the reality is what some here have already suggested to you. Off the shelf nuts never fit correctly and correctly, the word is a function of one's own personal standards for the quality of our work.

A nut needs to be installed pretty near perfectly no gaps, no seams that can be felt and string spacing needs also be appropriate for the instrument and the player.

Commercial, off the shelf, after market nuts are so bad.... and so misrepresented in terms of the effort to fit them correctly that we will not install them in our shop when a customer brings them to us. It's easier for us and takes the same amount of time to craft a nut from scratch from quality bone specifically for and we even craft it on the target guitar. Am I saying that we we will decline on the work if a customer insists on a commercial replacement nut? Yes.

Luthiers use the best materials for the job and for us this means high quality bone custom crafted for the job every time.

So I think the "problem" is that there is an assumption here that a commercial nut is easier to install than a scratch made nut. That is not always or even usually the case.

Saddles need to be fit too and I speak once again of a standard of work that leave no gaps and no leaning of the saddle and a saddle that it not too tight either since there is a UST in the picture (under saddle transducer).

With no insult intended we service over 1,100 guitars a year and we are not connected to any music store. All we do it guitar repair work over and over again.

This is not a guitar that anyone has ever brought us for this level of upgrades. In my experience and opinion the things that you wish to upgrade on the instrument may not provide you with the value or improvements that you seek or even will notice.... If you were my customer I would try to talk you out of it and suggest that you instead invest in a better guitar.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

If there is no problem then go ahead and do it. Let us know how it turns out.

I think this is your second go around on these questions, so I’m not surprised some members have lost track and given you advice that may not seem relevant.

As I said on the first go round, your Takamine has a synthetic saddle that is molded to be used with an integrated piezo. If all of the shims have already been removed, you’re essentially at the end of the road. I doubt you can remove enough off the top of the saddle to lower your strings much more — that will require a neck angle adjustment that is NOT an easy task on a Takamine. I turn away those jobs.

You had a link to a company in the UK that sells a bone integrated saddle. Clever. The price was not unreasonable, given what is involved to make them. If they sell different heights, you might write to ask if their product can give you lower than what you already have (personally, I kinda doubt it).

As for the nut, the Graphtech synthetic nuts are not “high end”, but commonly used by many factories. BUT, they are NOT ready to drop in. To adjust string height, you don’t normally “sand off the bottom”. Rather you need to adjust the depth of the string slots — a job best left to a professional with the training and, especially, the required files.


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Sorry, post retracted.

Pierre
Guitares Torvisse

_________________
Pierre Castonguay

Woah, Pierre! Rendre la conversation plus légère!
No, this is NOT a “specialist forum”, it is a community of guitar makers. There is no requirement to prove your level of knowledge or that you are a “specialist”.

Many, MOST, of the OLF members are NOT professional luthiers. They work in a huge array of professions, lawyers, teachers, accountants, scientists, etc. Young and old, they all have a common interest and can have something to contribute to the forum. We all learn through questions.

So, turn down the flame. Your post, mon ami, comes across as insulting and highly pretentious. And you launched your rant from my post … not appreciated.

If you feel a poster is wasting your precious time, then simply ignore the post and move on.

BTW, as a professional luthier, I consider my most useful internet resource is, in fact … a Facebook group.


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Sorry about that, this is not what I intended at all. I'll retract. Apologies to all that may have been offended.


Pierre
Guitares Torvisse

_________________
Pierre Castonguay

Accepted.


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