Okay, before we proceed any further, let us guitar nerds admit that this IS a very geeky thing to do...the Fossilized Mammoth Ivory (FMI) guitar saddles are actually from ivory tusks that have started the mineralisation process. Other common saddle types are cow bone and Tusq.
What we did was to install a FMI saddle in our test guitar, a Goodall RCJC in place of the original cow bone saddle. Both saddles are of the same action and the clips are posted here for your comparison.
Bone
FMI
What do you think? We feel that FMI gave the guitar a slightly louder tone and better projection, with slightly more mid-range and slightly less upper highs. Bone gave a purer sound and slightly more highs.
But overall, we would say that the difference in tone is only about 5 percent, which may be a lot or nothing at all depending on your milelage.
In any case, either bone or FMI is a good saddle material for your guitar, depending on your guitar characteristics.
Okay, before we proceed any further, let us guitar nerds admit that this IS a very geeky thing to do...the Fossilized Mammoth Ivory (FMI) guitar saddles are actually from ivory tusks that have started the mineralisation process. Other common saddle types are cow bone and Tusq.