Yamaha F310 Bone saddle

vivalacoulter

Hello all, had a little play around with my Yamaha F310 today. A perfect Sunday! Here’s a picture of the new bone saddle and some new ebony bridge pins.

I also put on some new Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb Elixier strings.

I think it looks pretty good, I sanded down the saddle to match what I’d done to the original plastic saddle and the action is great.

vivalacoulter

guitargeek62

Nice work! Did you shape it yourself too?

vivalacoulter

guitargeek62 said:

Nice work! Did you shape it yourself too?

Thanks! But no I searched amazon for a cheapish bone saddle that had compensation for the B string.

I just measured up what my standard straight plastic one was (that I’d already filed and lowered) and found one to roughly match. This is what I bought: Bone Acoustic Guitar Saddle Compensated 74mm wide 8mm,9mm or 10mm high (8mm High) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DRVDZ3R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_yEQFDbFWYYABC

Looks a little rough maybe but sounds much better so far. Maybe I’ll try and polish it up next time I do a string change.

joetele

I was only thinking today about getting my old F310 from my parents' house. I've had it for 20 years, and tried to file down the bridge/saddle myself without any experience to lower the action, and sanded the neck to remove the gloss. It looks a state, but it's *my* state. 

Might take it to the shop so they can remedy anything I've bodged regarding the saddle/bridge, and give it a polish and service. Other than that, there's nothing wrong with the guitar at all. 

vivalacoulter

joetele said:

I was only thinking today about getting my old F310 from my parents' house. I've had it for 20 years, and tried to file down the bridge/saddle myself without any experience to lower the action, and sanded the neck to remove the gloss. It looks a state, but it's *my* state. 

Might take it to the shop so they can remedy anything I've bodged regarding the saddle/bridge, and give it a polish and service. Other than that, there's nothing wrong with the guitar at all. 

Sounds like a good idea, mine came with a satin finish neck which is lovely to play on.

You could just order a new saddle and start from the beginning yourself, could be a nice project!

Branshen

I love these beginner yamahas. They sound great and record well. That is a very handsome looking upgrade!

joetele

vivalacoulter said:

joetele said:

I was only thinking today about getting my old F310 from my parents' house. I've had it for 20 years, and tried to file down the bridge/saddle myself without any experience to lower the action, and sanded the neck to remove the gloss. It looks a state, but it's *my* state. 

Might take it to the shop so they can remedy anything I've bodged regarding the saddle/bridge, and give it a polish and service. Other than that, there's nothing wrong with the guitar at all. 

Sounds like a good idea, mine came with a satin finish neck which is lovely to play on.

You could just order a new saddle and start from the beginning yourself, could be a nice project!

That sounds lovely but with two very young kids I'm afraid I won't have time for at least 5 years  

Branshen

Where did you get the ebony pins? I think my F310 needs some love. 

vivalacoulter

Branshen said:

Where did you get the ebony pins? I think my F310 needs some love. 

Found them here on amazon:

Blisstime 6pcs Ebony Guitar Pins Inlaid Abalone Dot Acoustic Guitar Replacement Parts https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014FA1ZDG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_TfMHDbZJJWYJ7

Pretty cheap but but they do the job nicely.

Branshen

vivalacoulter said:

Branshen said:

Where did you get the ebony pins? I think my F310 needs some love. 

Found them here on amazon:

Blisstime 6pcs Ebony Guitar Pins Inlaid Abalone Dot Acoustic Guitar Replacement Parts https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014FA1ZDG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_TfMHDbZJJWYJ7

Pretty cheap but but they do the job nicely.

Thanks! 

alcxam

Looks a little rough maybe but sounds much better so far. Maybe I’ll try and polish it up next time I do a string change.

How did it improve the sound, do you think?

gringopig

.

vivalacoulter

alcxam said:

Looks a little rough maybe but sounds much better so far. Maybe I’ll try and polish it up next time I do a string change.

How did it improve the sound, do you think?

It really projects the sound more now, has better range to it and is very well voiced.

It brightened it up a bit too.

I think the combination of plastic nut and bone saddle is a good choice for this guitar, I think that perhaps a bone nut may brighten it up a bit too much.

vivalacoulter

gringopig said:

I bought an F-310 from Gumtree for a workmate who wanted to learn to play. It was £70 and had a really old rusty set of strings on.
I taped off the fingerboard and polished the frets with ultra fine steel wool, fed it with FretDoctor and put the new strings on then adjusted the truss rod to get the neck straighter. I could have sanded down the bass side of the saddle but just left it.

The thing is, the guitar sounded superb. I've played Martin's that were dead in comparison!

I think I will get that nut and pop it in next time he wants to change the strings as the action is still a bit high on the bass side. Thanks for the tip!

Very surprising little guitar isn’t it!