Choice of string saddle and biscuit

[stringsection]

Hi,
I am new to the forum and fairly new to resonator guitars. As a retired engineer my question is posed from that perspective rather than of a musician. My question is about the best material for string saddles and biscuits on single cone resonators.
The most common for saddles is either plain maple or ebony capped maple (I note that Repogle make hybrid saddles with an ebony cap covering half of the maple saddle.); and for biscuits either maple, walnut or rosewood. Since the purpose of both components is to transfer string energy to the cone then from a physics point of view surely the harder the wood then the less energy is absorbed by the wood and therefore lost to cone; in which case an ebony capped saddle would be better than plain maple as ebony is a harder wood; likewise the biscuit; why not go for the hardest wood? Am I completely wrong? Your thoughts would be appreciated. 

[Deleted]

You could easily argue that a hybrid saddle would transfer less energy to the cone, since you're forcing a transition between the two woods, not to mention requiring the energy to pass the barrier of the glue line.

I'm just making this up, of course. I'm no engineer, I just go with what feels right. I did in fact have a guitar with a hybrid saddle, it was extremely bright-sounding, but lacked the focus of the resonators I have with solid maple saddles.

I think ebony saddles are fairly rare in general in the guitar world. Ebony makes a great fretboard material though.

[Michael Messer]

Hi Stringsection,

Welcome to our forum.

Best material in single cone National-style guitars for bridge saddles and biscuits is maple. Boxwood is great for bridges, if you can get it. Ebony capping sounds terrible on this type of guitar, it sounds bright and brittle. Soft woods are the right thing to use.

Shine On
Michael

[pete1951]

Nov 6, 2015 16:52:18 GMT Michael Messer said:

Hi Stringsection,



Soft woods are the right thing to use.

Shine On
Michael

By this I think MM means woods softer than ebony rather than pine or fir


Most things have been tried m, brass aluminium fiberglass, . etc. etc. but as MM says Maple seems to work best. Harder things may transfer vibrations `better` but it may be that some `damping` could improve the sound. For whatever reason most makers go back to maple.
PT

[Michael Messer]

Thanks Pete. Yes... I meant 'softer', not soft like pine or fir.

Shine On
Michael

[Deleted]

Besides, maple is one of the great tone woods.

[Deleted]

Nov 6, 2015 17:32:02 GMT pete1951 said:

Nov 6, 2015 16:52:18 GMT Michael Messer said:

Hi Stringsection,
Soft woods are the right thing to use.
Shine On
Michael

By this I think MM means woods softer than ebony rather than pine or fir

Most things have been tried, brass aluminium fiberglass, . etc. etc. but as MM says Maple seems to work best. Harder things may transfer vibrations `better` but it may be that some `damping` could improve the sound. For whatever reason most makers go back to maple.
PT

That explains why my balsa saddle is so rotten...

I think it also depends on what else in your guitar is affecting the tone.
My 70s OMI body with an amistar cone sounds better with brass saddles than other saddles, and my home made '28 triolian' sounds better with a timber saddle. Sometimes, trying a few out might give you something you didn't expect, that you prefer.
TT

[resotonic]

Where would I be able to get a maple saddle blank for my tricone?
Has to be 1" tall(!), 1/8" wide and near to 3" long (so I have more to trim into shape).
Maybe 2 of them, just in case...

[dbs]

'lo-just saw this post-i got a solid maple 'insert' (saddle) for a tri-cone from JANET DAVIS ACOUSTIC MUSIC-(online) look under resonator guitar parts-nuts/inserts/screws-you will find them there-the one i got gave me plenty of room for shaping & worked out very well-the parts are made by Beard-but i don't suggest you get them from those guys-it will take them forever to ship it-J Davis is a good supplier-i've got a few bits from them-cheers, dbs

[resotonic]

Thanks dbs for the tip; I've got a chunk of maple that I'll have to size to fit.

Update:  worked the wood down to size, cut string notches, installed the maple saddle and I've got better balanced sound then I had with an ebony capped maple saddle. Seems like a slightly warmer tone as well.