Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8" 

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

Wow. I have gone full circle. I started with Tusq, but was offended when in some tunings it would give a ringing in the two top strings. I went to bone, which good for low frequency response and helped with the ringing, but didn't have the clarity of tone that Tusq had. Then I went to the Bob Colossi West African Ivory saddle. Ivory is brighter than bone, but I felt I was missing some high end response and overtones. I have four acoustic guitars, and one by one I started trying Tusq again. The ideal I have now found is to use Tusq on ALL my acoustic guitars, and have several of them de-tuned three frets. (E, for example, is now lowered to C#.)Only Tusq allows such lowering of tuning while really performing acoustically. (If you only detune one or two frets, you might get upper string ringing, and you would have less overtones.)
Note: One complaint about Tusq is that it gets grooves worn into the saddle faster than with bone or ivory. If you lower the tuning, this problem should be significantly decreased.
If you are a die-hard purist who refuses to lower the tuning of your instrument, you might consider bone as the alternative, to get away from brigtness. I feel sorry for you. With the lowered tuning allowed with a Tusq saddle, you get the rich overtones and sound of a far bigger instrument.
Tusq is assumed to be safer than bone or ivory, as the dust is less toxic.
My guitars: Larrivee D03R; Yamaha Professional LL16-12 12 string; Yamaha Professional LJ16 Jumbo; Guild GAD JF30 (maple back & sides; possibly tune up with this for a bluegrass sound).
In conclusion, I would start with a Tusq saddle, and only go to bone if you have to.
Note: I also put a Tusq saddle on my Guitele, and it sounds better than when I had a bone saddle on it.
-Ken W in Portland

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

Addendum to my previous review:
At first, I was highly enamored with the Tusq saddles. After the first day, though, my B string started ringing, and the high E also, to a lesser extent. This effect might be reduced by using an ebony bridge pin instead of Tusq (I have Tusq pins on all my guitars)for the pin of the offending string. I ended up going back to Bob Colosi's West African ivory saddle for all my guitars, to avoid the excessive brightness on the top two strings. Incidentally, in my opinion, the order of brighness of saddles is bone (least bright), West African ivory (brightest professional saddle material recommended by Bob Colosi), and then Tusq (most bright). If you have a dark sounding instrument, it may benefit from the Tusq saddle.
Concerning the ringing, I found that it was still a problem even after sanding down the bearing edge of the saddle.
Tusq is actually fairly soft, and is prone to quickly develop grooves in the treble string bearing edges. Perhaps this will contribute to any ringing problems.
Conclusion: Tusq saddles are good for the money, and I like the tone, but if you get ringing treble strings, try bone or West African ivory.

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

I have installed many saddles, and I find that bone is too dark in tone. Until now, I had been using Bob Colosi's West African Ivory saddles as my ideal. Today I was working with my new Yamaha Professional LJ16 jumbo guitar. The bone saddle I installed killed some of the life of the tone, so I put in a Tusq saddle. (I had already installed Tusq bridge pins). I was unhappy that the high E and B strings gave an irritating high frequency. I was about to put an order in for the ivory saddle when I suddenly got an idea... sand the saddle contact areas, so they are more rounded (especially for the two high treble strings). I was amazed at the results. It took away the irritating high frequencies, and I could customize the tone I wanted by sanding the contact surface more or less rounded. Folks, before you put in a bone saddle, try this!
Also, my luthier claims that bone dust (from sanding down a bone saddle to make it fit) is extremely hazardous to your lungs. Bone dust cannot come out of your lungs. Tusq is an inert plastic (I assume) and I would think this would be much safer for your lungs.
By all means, also install the Tusq bridge pins. I have tried all other pins on the market, and nothing competes with Tusq bridge pins. They really do make a difference, and increase tone and sustain.

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

I cannot reccomend Graph Tech saddles enough. It makes your high notes crisper, and your low notes more fuller, and don't forget the sustain. Now that I have discovered them, I'm kind of like a Religious fanatic, and I make sure I buy them for my friends. The best part is there are plenty of how to videos on You Tube. Trust me if a chucklehead like me can file and install a saddle, anyone can do it. The nut is a different story. But with a little practice, you'll be fine. I am not an expert by no means, so I file the saddle with the "Trial and Error" method. meaning, I will file the saddle with medium grade sandpaper with about 100 strokes, put it on the guitar, and if the action is still high, I'll remove it, and file it another 100 strokes,try it again, and if it's still too high, I will remove it again and give it another 100 strokes,until I'm happy with it. Hope this helps anyone who might be chicken like I used to be. Worse comes to worse,(If you filed it too low, you can build it back up with a sliver of plastic from an old credit card.)These are also money well spent for your cheapo knock about guitar.

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

my acoustic electric already had decent sustain but i wanted a little more acoustic volume. virtually all saddles require some degree of modification. once i modified for neck relief(playablilty) and installed it; i was impressed. i was able to detect moderate increase in volume, clarity, and sustain. it should be noted that i had already installed new strings over the original saddle so the difference detected was directly attributed to the saddle and not the fact that new strings were installed.

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

It comes pretty big which is good so you sand it to fit perfect. It took me about 30 minutes of sanding between 60 and 100 grit. I also have a big magnetic pickup in there so I had to get it really fine. But it is good quality and doesn't chip or crack.

I finally put it in and put some good Elixor strings on it and it sounded awesome.

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

Use standard file set to get a good fit

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

Dramatically increased sustain and improved tone. Well worth the price. Once I installed it I then ordered the TUSQ Bridge Pins. Only makes sense that the pins will help out as well (since the sound is transfered to the body by the saddle and to a lesser exent by the pins. Make sure you get the right width (they make two widths.) If you have a 1/8" saddle and you buy the larger one, you'll have lots of sanding to do!

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

Would use it again to replace any plastic saddle.

Comments about Graph Tech TUSQ Fully Compensated Saddle 1/8":

Bought this saddle to replace broken one on my Sigma acoustic, The saddle is about 1/8' taller than the old one, so there's plenty of material to custom fit it to required height. I used a dremel with cut-off wheel for rough cut, then finished with sandpaper. Width and thickness were only a few thousands oversize, and required only light sanding for proper fit. Please note that any saddle ,or nut, will require fitting. Do NOT expect a "drop-in fit"- there's no such thing... Tone improved noticeably.