Martin Compensated Bone Saddle Customer Reviews
Name: Steve H
Date: 3/26/15
Review: compensated bone saddle
Rating you give the Martin Bone Saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Added volume, clarity, articulation, and a nice ring to my Martin OMCPA4. Big difference from the stock tusq saddle, especially in the mids and highs. Added depth and complexity to those two registers. The bass also became slightly louder and clearer. A significant improvement.
Dislikes: None
Additional Comments: Maury's Music is very good to work with. They are prompt, courteous and kind.
Name: Jon
Date: 7-10-2014
Review: Martin Compensated Bone Saddle
Rating you give the Martin Bone Saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Excellent fininsh
Great intonation
Vast improvement in tone
Dislikes: None
Additional Comments: This bone saddle transformed the sound of my D16rgt. The guitar sounded very good before, but was a tad dark and boomy with the stock Tusq saddle. A little sanding per the excellent instructions Maury included and the saddle dropped right in and fit like a glove. As for the tone, wow, singing treble, growling mids, and full lush bass. Much more even tone now, and sustain and harmonics are even better than before. For the price this upgrade presents an enormous value, and Maury's is top notch to deal with. I will be shopping here again for sure.
Name: Dean Robertson
Date: 4-30-13
Review: Bone Saddle
Rating you give the Compensated Bone Saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Just installed it on my Martin D-16RGT and WOW! What a differnce. FYI, the strings I use are John Pearson 600L. I also added the "Bone Pins". There is much more definition and sustain then the original Bridge and Bridge Pins.
Dislikes: The only thing I did not like about was waiting for it to be dilivered. It took a loooong 3 days LOL.
Additional Comments: Get one today and it will sound like a million dollar guitar.
Name: Jeff
Date: 5-1-12
Review: Bone saddle
Rating you give the bone saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Tone...
Dislikes: Had to sand it for a while. It was to wide for my Martin HD 16 RLSH
Additional Comments: Once I got it set into the bridge and installed new bone bridge pins, I tuned her up and started playing. Noticed a smoother response right away. It seemed to "calm" the mids and highs. Real sweet. I know it will only get better with time...
Forum username: djh
Date: 03-23-2012
Review: Martin Bone Saddle
Rating you give the Bone Saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Easy to install and set-up. Very good tone with great sustain. Installed on a DR-28S Martin/Sigma.(1984)
Dislikes: Low E & A strings intonation is 442. D,G,B,High E is right on 440. At the 12th fret with normal 440 open string tunning.
Additional Comments: The Low E & A string intonation are not off enough for me to bother. Happy with purchase and performance of this Bone Saddle. Recommend.
Name or Forum username: Wonky
Date: 7/11/11
Review: Compensated Bone Saddle
Rating you give the bone saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Shaped very well, maybe a total of 5 minutes sanding to get that perfect fit.
Dislikes: It'd be nice if it came with a sheet of 220 grit and 1000 grit since you will have to sand on it.
Additional Comments: The tone is a dramatic difference. This makes Tusq saddles sound like a $50 guitar... I'm not sure why these aren't standard to be completely honest. Best thing I've ever bought for my guitar besides strings.
Name: Mike
Date: 4-18-2011
Review: Compensated Bone Saddle
Rating you give the bone saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Good quality saddle that required almost no sanding for fit.
Dislikes: None
Additional Comments: I have installed other saddles in the past and none have fit this well out of the box. Of course the improvement in tone over the old Tusq saddle cannot be overstated. Great product, great price.
Name: Rick D.
Date: 4/14/11
Review: Bone compensated saddle for martin
Likes: Maury's bone saddles are top quality, easy to install and, to my ear, greatly improve tone over Micarta or Tusq.
Dislikes: Nothing.
Additional Comments: A month ago, I bought a 1999 Martin D-15 off Ebay. It was incredibly loud and bassy but really didn't sound great. I took off the heavy strings and put on a set of DR Sunbeam 11-50s (great strings). That tamed the bass some but the guitar was muddy in the bass with dull mids and harsh trebles. So, I ordered a bone saddle from Maury's. I had to sand for thickness and that gave me a perfect fit. Sides fit well and I sanded for height. I lost a tad of the heavy volume and the bass, mid and trebles were more clear and balanced. Much sweeter. Next, I put a set of bone bridge pins in and that gave the tone more solidity. Then I took it to my local shop and had the action tweaked. My D-15 is just amazing now. It has great depth and harmonics and sweet singing sustain on top of the the warm woody tone inherent in the mahogany top. It now has 75% of the initial volume and 400% better tone. Best guitar I ever had and I can't put it down.
Name: mike b.
Date: 3-22-2011
Review: martin compensated bone saddle
Rating you give the compensated bone saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Great product! A nice snug fit - just like factory equipment - no sanding required to fit the slot in the saddle. Really adds to the tone and sustain on my SPD-16R & looks great too.
Dislikes: None really - took a bit of sanding as far as the height went to match my existing saddle - had to take 1/8" off- but understandable to fit a wide variety of instruments and playing styles.
Forum username: Rockinrick
Date: 3/18/11
Review: Martin bone saddle
Rating you give the bone saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Top quality bone saddle for newer Martin guitars. Easy to fit. Vast improvement in tone.
Dislikes: None.
Additional Comments: I'm very picky about guitar tone and not easily impressed. I'm also rather poor. I picked up a beat up 19999 Martin D-15 on ebay. It was loud as could be with deep, muddy bass, dead mids and harsh trebles. I began to look into a bone saddle for it. The quality of the ones on ebay seemed sketchy so I went with Maurys. I had to sand for thickness and height, which gave a nice custom fit. Widthwise, it fit perfectly. At the cost of a slight decrease in volume, my D-15 sounds twice as good now - almost like a different guitar. It's more tonally balanced across the strings, with more overtones and clarity. No problems with trebles being harsh until the saddle is played in. The trebles are round and crystalline. I couldn't stop playing my D-15. I can't afford $60 for FWI but my $25 investment in this bone saddle has made me much happier with my guitar.
Forum username: Serobnson
Date: 4/16/10
Review: Bone Saddle
Rating you give the bone saddle: 2 - Did the job nothing special
Additional Comments: Tried the bone saddle in my Martin D15. Sorry, but I liked the Tusq more, so I switched back. The bone saddle colored the tone too much IMO, and I missed the warmth of my D15. As soon as I put the tusq saddle back in, it sounded like my guitar again. I do use bone bridge pins which helped improve the clarity and sustain. However, the bone saddle was too much - maybe because the guitar is all mahogony. It sounded too bright for my taste.
Name: Keith
Date: September 21, 2009
Review: Bone Guitar Saddle, compensated
Rating you give the Compensated Bone Saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Wow! I was quite surprised at how the tone in my Martin DM was improved instantly.
Very little sanding required for perfect fit.
Dislikes: A picture showing which way to put in compensated saddle would have saved a few minutes.
Additional Comments: This increased sustain and made the sound "clearer". Bass and Treble were well balanced. Thank you for selling this excellent product. I can't think of a less expensive, but more helpful modification that I've ever made to a guitar (I was replacing a tusq saddle).
Name: Bill
Date: 4/9/09
Review: Compensated bone saddle
Rating you give the compensated bone saddle: 5 - Best thing I ever played
Likes: This is just what my D-28 needed. It really brings out the trebles, but it still has the driving bass also.
Dislikes: None
Additional Comments: I was really impressed with the instructions for installation provided by Maury's Music. Makes this an easy install for anyone. Oh, and fast shipping also.
Name: Josh Ogden
Date: 1-29-09
Review: Bone Saddle
Rating you give the Compensated Bone Saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: Really nice separation of lows mids and highs. Gives a crisper, louder, fuller sound.
Dislikes: break in period
Additional Comments: My guitar did not instanty sound better after the installation. It was way to bright at first. AFter a week of playing the sound is really great. The overtones are more amazing than before and the sound is crisp yet verry full. A very nice inexpensive upgrade.
Name: Travis
Date: 8 October 2008
Review: Martin Compensated Bone Saddle
Rating you give the Martin Bone Saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes: The saddle came with instructions on how to install the product, and they would be very useful. However, the saddle I got from Maury's was the exact same size and height as the one I took out of my Martin HD-16 LSH. So I didn't have to sand anything at all. I made sure it was perfectly flat on the bottom and it was then I just dropped her in. Same day guitar surgery.
Dislikes: None
Additional Comments: At first the bone saddle is a bit to edgy and bright. However, with my aggresive bluegrass playing style I had the edge worn off in about 10 minutes. I use medium gauge strings, and this guitar really lit up after I installed the bone saddle. I had a howitzer, and now I have a CANNON. It is just like a fine wine...getting better with time.
Forum username: TwoMartinMan
Date: 8-01-2007
Review: Compensated Bone Saddle
Rating you give the Martin compensated bone saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Like about the compensated bone saddle: Overall quality, finish
Additional Comments: I got this bone saddle to try to bring out the trebles more on my Martin Custom rosewood dreadnaught. I also installed bone bridge pins for the first three strings. Sound is much improved...more balanced against the boomy bass. Makes for better fingerpicking. Crisper, louder trebles with better sustain.
Name: Rich Celley
Date: 4/20/2006
Review: compensated bone saddle
Rating you gave the compensated bone saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Liked about the compensated bone saddle: I got two of them and they are to all appearances exactly the same which points to very good quality control in manufacturing. They are nicely polished, very clean and white, with no rough spots, pitting or chips. The one I've installed in my six year old Martin SPD-16W fit the saddle slot perfectly, not tight but with no wiggle either, just beautifully snug. The improvement in sound from an already very nice sounding guitar was immediate. Louder and with more sustain but also with greater clarity on all strings and everywhere on the neck. If it's going to "play in" and get better I can hardly wait. Sound improved to the point where my wife came from three rooms away to see if I had gotten a new guitar, and as stated before this one already sounded pretty darned good.
Disliked about the compensated bone saddle: Not really a dislike but I thought the top edges were possibly just too sharp so I did polish them off lightly (very lightly)with 1200 and then 2000 grit wet/dry paper. No big deal at all but I build
ukuleles and as a builder I'm probably just fussy. Those sharp edges could account for the bright ringing overtones others have mentioned that fade away after a week or two. Maybe it's just the string polishing down the edge a bit until it lays across a little more solidly?
Additional Comments: Shipment the next day after ordering at night. Products ordered were exactly as advertised. Very high quality product, very pleasant shopping experience all around. Love the website, especially the videos. Now if only Martins cost what Blue Ridge guitars cost the world would be perfect.
UMGF Username: pastorharry
City/ State: Lahaina HI
Date: 07/20/2005
Review: comp bone saddle
Rating you give the Compensated Bone Saddle: 4 - Highly recommend it
Liked about the Martin Bone Saddle: Simple modification highly improves clarity and volumn.
Disliked about the Bone Saddle: nothing
Additional Comments: Have installed 5 bone saddles on 5 different martins, excellent results/improvements on every guitar.
