Graphtech saves a guitar

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SFW

SFW

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So I'm sure that many of you saw my NGD post about my Jackson PC1. When it arrived, I loved everything about the guitar but the bridge pickup tone. No big deal I thought, as I'm not a huge fan of DiMarzios. So off to eBay I went and purchased a Suhr SSH+. Surely this would solve my issue with the guitar. While I was waiting for the SSH to arrive, I decided to pull the SSV from my Les Paul and try it in the PC1. Ummm while the SSV sounds glorious in my Les Paul, it sounded muffled and muddy in the PC1. Now I'm starting to get concerned. This is a lot of money to not like a guitar. My first thought was great, leave it to Floyd Rose's crappy QC to ruin a great guitar. I ordered a set of String Saver Classic FR saddles and hoped for the best. (You can get a full set of saddles for much cheaper than a set of OFR saddles.)

Well, I installed the new Graphtech saddles about an hour ago, and man what a HUGE difference they made. The guitar came alive! Even with the DiMarzio Super 3 the guitar just screams. The mids have better definition and a complexity that simply wasn't there with the stock saddles. The highs are nice and balance but definitely there. The lows are crisp and anything but muddy now. My amp setting returned to normal and the guitar is a joy to play. From now on, any guitar that I own with a floating bridge will have a Gotoh logo on it or a set of Graphtech saddles.
 
Started reading this story and got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.....glad it worked out for you. Lot of money to not like a guitar indeed.
 
Thank you for posting your experience..... ! Replacing the saddles would definitely not be the first thing that I would think of when hunting down tone-robbing gremlins.... looks like a really cool product.
 
Good read....I was considering getting the graphtech saddles for my Sterling AX-20....The saddles on it kinda are uncomfortable for my picking hand. My buddy has some graphtechs on his strat, and they are damn comfortable...smooth. I read some reviews though on how they deadin the tone, so I have held off. Subjective I am sure, but my AX-20 is a cheap guitar, and i wasn't sure I wanted to throw $55 towards saddles...
 
I had them totally "wake up" a v-trem outfitted parts strat that I built back in the 90's...they are the first upgrade I go to when trying to cure a dead/flat sounding guitar.

The Super-3 is actually a pretty cool pickup. You should try it out for a while before you change it out...you may be surprised.
 
Very cool!

Never tried them myself, but I always read that the Graphtech Saddles actually softened the tone/darkened the guitar's sound in some way. Going by your post/experience, it sounds like they did the opposite :rock:
 
Thanks for the info.
The bridge 'bucker tone on my Strat has always been meh no matter what pickup used.
I've had a hunch that the crappy stock fender saddles were adversely affecting the sound. So I've been meaning to grab some Graphtechs for it.
 
Well, the original saddles on the FR were extremely soft. So just about anything would have brightened te guitar up. However, the Graphtech saddles are slightly longer than the ones on the OFR... Making it a pain to properly intonate. I ended up biting the bullet and ordering a Gotoh FR. I know that it will be a quality piece. If the guitar didn't play so damn good, I would have just relisted it. Lol.
 
I was glad to hear that worked for you. Years ago
at Hollowood Music in Pittsburgh I was eager to play the Phil C Jackson.
Nice guitar but once I picked up a Peavey Wolfgang,the Jackson just sounded like crap.
Always wondered if it was the pickups or was the Wolfie was just that much better .
 
I just realised that guitar has a gold Floyd Rose right? If so.. That right there is the problem. Almost every gold Floyd i have tried has sounded like shit. The Chrome Floyds sound night and day different (for the better)
 
I put graphtech saddles on a crap tele and it took a tinny sound out of the upper strings. Definitely a reasonably priced upgrade, and one that gets glossed over when tracking down tone issues. IMHO you could put saddles right behind pots/caps as "what to change out first".
 
MrDan666":1wwbvj6o said:
I just realised that guitar has a gold Floyd Rose right? If so.. That right there is the problem. Almost every gold Floyd i have tried has sounded like shit. The Chrome Floyds sound night and day different (for the better)
Click to expand...
Wow, that's the first time that I've ever heard that...interesting! It also made me realize that I've never owned a gold Floyd...seems odd seeing as I've had well over 100 guitars pass through my hands throughout the years.
 
rupe":2goi5ob3 said:
MrDan666":2goi5ob3 said:
I just realised that guitar has a gold Floyd Rose right? If so.. That right there is the problem. Almost every gold Floyd i have tried has sounded like shit. The Chrome Floyds sound night and day different (for the better)
Click to expand...
Wow, that's the first time that I've ever heard that...interesting! It also made me realize that I've never owned a gold Floyd...seems odd seeing as I've had well over 100 guitars pass through my hands throughout the years.
Click to expand...

I think i remember Curt (Chubtone) and Barzini saying the same thing about gold Floyds. I just don't like the tone from them.. They are really dull and soft sounding. I wonder if it has something to do with the gold plating they use on them?
 
I have two Tom Andersons with gold floyd rose trems - both sound great, not sure if they wouldn't sound better with a different trem, but no problems here tonewise.
 
You know, whether it be graphite or not, changing saddles on my guitars has always resulted in different/better tone.

Upgrading from soft steel to the Raw Vintage saddles on my strat made it come alive and made it sound beefier. Same with using billet brass milled Rutters saddles on my Tele.

Think about it: the saddles are THE most important contact point between the strings and the rest of your guitar.
 
I'm sure the saddles made a difference but I suspect you're in the honeymoon phase with the PC-1.
I'm very happy with mine now but it took a while to get there. I did have a warranty issue that jackson fixed (They replaced the neck) but other then that, I had the same mushy dark tone out of it as your describing.
I installed a big brass block, trem stopper, and titanium string blocks. It made a difference but the core tone didnt change.
Installed a Surh Aldrich in place of the Super 3, another slight improvement but still not there.
Removed the sustainer and that was it. The sustainer kills this guitar. It loads down the bridge pickup, kills upper frequency's, and takes any tightness out of the lows.

I installed a BC-1 in the neck position, one mini switch functions as a blower switch, and one mini switch functions as a kill switch. Volume and Tone are the same. I put a pot in the open hole from the old intensity control.

Best thing I ever did was gut the sustainer!!! I use this guitar Live all the time now!!!
 
MrDan666":cez03is7 said:
I just realised that guitar has a gold Floyd Rose right? If so.. That right there is the problem. Almost every gold Floyd i have tried has sounded like shit. The Chrome Floyds sound night and day different (for the better)
Click to expand...

Hmm, I have one that doesn't sound any different than my black one. Both guitars they are on sound good. Never heard this before, sounds like something I would expect to hear on TGP. :confused:
 
i almost had doc pitillo/the guitar doctor replace my saddles on my tyler with graphtechs last month-
now this post makes me regret i didn't!

i bought a white ibanez rg-something in 87 new at gc santa ana that i changed everything on---neck to carvin ebony bolt on, pickups to duncan classic stack neck, dimmy hs-2 middle for the ej factor, and duncan pearly gates bridge original, and saddles to graphtech, ftw.
the gt saddles make the guitar more woody and fat sounding and sustain was better.
 
snowdog":1h2hot26 said:
MrDan666":1h2hot26 said:
I just realised that guitar has a gold Floyd Rose right? If so.. That right there is the problem. Almost every gold Floyd i have tried has sounded like shit. The Chrome Floyds sound night and day different (for the better)
Click to expand...

Hmm, I have one that doesn't sound any different than my black one. Both guitars they are on sound good. Never heard this before, sounds like something I would expect to hear on TGP. :confused:
Click to expand...

There is a big difference in tone, no bullshit. Try the different color Floyd trems on the same guitar and you'll see what I mean. The black and gold OFR trems both sound identical - duller in the treble/mids and have softer note attack than the chrome OFR.
I had a black OFR on my guitar.. Swapped it to a chrome OFR and it came alive tonally. More mids and treble, also a little more snap to the note attack. Had the same experience with another guitar when swapping a gold one out for a chrome one too :thumbsup:
 
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