
A bone nut being back-filed for proper string placement and correct action height.
It doesn’t have to cost a lot to change your acoustic guitar’s tone and playability.
In my early days, all the guitars I played (which all happened to be pre-1950s) used bone nuts and saddles. I took this for granted, and so did my musician friends. With the exception of the ebony nuts on some turn-of-the-century parlors and the occasional use of ivory, the use of bone was a simple fact of our guitar playing lives, and alternative materials were simply uncommon to us.
It wasn’t until I started hanging around Quinn’s Music in the neighboring town of Big Rapids, Michigan, that I started seeing guitars with alternative materials for nuts and saddles, such as the plastic used on Kays and Silvertones. Unfortunately, these materials lacked the firmness of bone, and ultimately did not produce the clear tone I’d become so accustomed to. This is also when I started to encounter acoustic guitars with adjustable saddles, which were mostly mid-’60s Gibsons. Some utilized wood for the adjustable saddles, while others used porcelain, and both materials posed both acceptable but not-so-great alternatives to bone.
A vintage-style “through saddle” on a 1930 Martin OM-18. When made correctly, the saddle height and string break will greatly enhance the overall tone of the instrument.
Over the years, I’ve seen many materials that claimed to be better than bone. But better at what? Because other than pearl, nothing beats bone for tone. Even though there are other compelling material propositions, such as brass and graphite, they all have flaws. Brass, which was popularized in the ’70s, claims to add sustain to notes, but that possible advantage has been debated, and brass is not recommended to be used as a saddle since its weight can potentially have a negative impact on soundboard resonance. Graphite is commonly used by electric players and can help maintain tuning with vibrato use and heavy bending, but it’s far too soft to offer premium tone on an acoustic instrument.
In 1976, I bought a 1969 Martin D-28. After playing it for a bit, I noticed it was lacking in high-end and clarity compared to other guitars I owned, such as my Gibson B-25. I unstrung the guitar, removed the saddle, and was surprised to discover the saddle was pliable and soft, and the nut was made from this same soft material. I took it to my local guitar repairman, Dan Erlewine, who did a great job fabricating and installing a new nut and saddle made from bone. The guitar’s overall tone improved, and the guitar came to life. Once I started repairing guitars, I routinely made and installed bone nuts and saddles to replace plastic or composite materials. As I began specializing in acoustics, I also did plenty of neck sets and fret jobs, which included a bone nut and saddle replacement to round out the repair.
This experience helped me to realize that the most impactful and minimal change you can make to influence tone is a bone nut and saddle upgrade.
This experience helped me to realize that the most impactful and minimal change you can make to influence tone is a bone nut and saddle upgrade. In fact, after finishing the initial evaluation on a customer’s guitar, I would let them know that. However, if a customer is tight for cash, I always told them to “focus on the saddle, as it influences every note on the guitar.” On the other hand, the nut only dictates the tone of the six open notes. Of course, those are pretty darn important notes!
So, to me, a bone nut and saddle upgrade is a fairly low-cost improvement to the overall tone and responsiveness of your guitar. Additionally, a well-made bone nut and saddle will outlast a plastic version tenfold. Both can easily be installed by a qualified technician, and along with a proper setup, it’s still my recommendation as the biggest “bang for your buck” to improve your guitar’s tone and playability.
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Shure introduces the Nexadyne line of dynamic instrument microphones.
Each Nexadyne super cardioid microphone boasts Shure’s patented Revonic Dual-Engine Transducer Technology. While typical instrument microphones use a single transducer, Nexadyne microphones feature two precisely calibrated transducers working together to achieve optimal performance that delivers natural, authentic clarity while minimizing unwanted noise.
Nexadyne’s combination of acoustic signal processing and exceptional polar pattern linearity, enables the microphoneline to deliver a stronger and clearer output. This output is more authentic to the performer and reduces audio engineers’ need to apply typical EQ corrections.
Featuring compact industrial designs and a discreet, black finish for low-profile visibility, Nexadyne Instrument Microphones provide exceptional sound quality, industry-leading durability, and stage-friendly functionality. Each Nexadyne microphone surpasses real-world reliability requirements show after show and stands as the road-ready choice for modern touring.
Nexadyne 5 Dynamic Guitar Amp Microphone
Capture the full detail and power of your signature amplified guitar tone. The Nexadyne 5 ensures the full range of your guitar tone is captured and ready for the mix every time. The incredibly small dynamic cartridge design enables a side-address form factor for improved placement. It can be positioned by hanging off any amp or used with a standard mic clip and stand.
Nexadyne 2 Dynamic Bass Amp / Kick Drum Microphone
Kick drums will just sound bigger. The Nexadyne 2 delivers true, low-end clarity and fullness on every stage, with contoured EQ, protection from stage rumble, and improved high-frequency extension and attack definition. The microphone is designed with its swivel joint separated from the XLR output source for secure placement without strain on output cables.
Nexadyne Instrument Microphones carry these street prices: The Nexadyne 5 is available for $219. The Nexadyne 2 is available for $249.
Each microphone includes a zippered bag and brass adapter. The Nexadyne 5 includes the A25E mic clip.
For more information please visit shure.com.
An overdrive boost that takes cues from a Klon but goes beyond by adding useful tone-sculpting features.
A large range of wide-open tones to explore in the overdrive/boost family. Easy to voice with various types of gear. Might free up space on your pedalboard.
Potentially a little more expensive than alternatives.
$249
Walrus Audio Voyager MkII
walrusaudio.com
When it comes toKlon-style pedals, I like to think I have my bases covered. I’ve done too much research, I own a few, and I have some personal methodology for deciding which ones go on the board for which gig. (Not even I always understand that methodology, but it seems to work!) I’d like to put a check mark next to boost/overdrive in my mental notebook, but things don’t always go according to plan, so, on occasion, I find myself wooed by new offerings.
I promised myself I’d approach the Walrus Voyager MkII with a steely resolve. “I’m not going to fall for this pedal,” I whispered to my current klone-du-jour as I swapped stomps, confident that I’d never feel the need to add more options to a perfect pedal formula, as the Voyager does with its six knobs. But I guess there’s always room to grow.
More Knobs!?
In spite of the many similarities, you can’t really call the Voyager MkII aklone. It has germanium 1N34A diodes like a klone does. When I AB’d with myJHS Notaklön—which sounds exactly like my Klon KTR and has become my go-to thanks to its sturdier build—I was able to dial them in to sound quite close. I wasn’t able to set the controls to identical positions and I had to use my ear to tune the Walrus to get them. But with a baseline established, it was time to explore.
The Voyager MkII features five modes, which include the 1N34A diodes with a bass boost (mode 2), symmetric silicon diodes (mode 3), asymmetric silicon diodes (mode 4), and asymmetric silicon diodes with a bass boost (mode 5). If you’re familiar with what that all means, you know what to expect. If you’ve never tinkered with pedal design or dug into the finer details of your overdrives, distortions, and fuzzes deeply enough to understand those things, this is an excellent way to learn with your ears.
A 2-knob EQ, controlled by a footswitch, opens up the voicing of the Voyager. The mid control determines the amount of boost or cut from clockwise, and the freq knob selects the frequency that is cut or boosted, ranging from 350 Hz to 2 kHz.
Modes and Mids
I jumped around the modes to taste, finding each suitable in different scenarios. As much as I love the warm, compressed sound of the germanium diodes—and the bass boost option is a welcomed touch—the silicon diodes are more open, dynamic, and even feel a little grittier. That creates a lot of sonic variety. I always keep another boost/overdrive on my board along with my Klon or klone, but the Voyager would be a fine way to replace both.
The mid boost turned out to be my favorite feature on the Voyager. This would be a super-handy thing for kicking on between one section of a song and another, perhaps changing color for a lead or single-string part after heavy strums.
As I switched guitars, it was handy to hone in on some frequencies. After reveling in the higher side of the gain knob with a Powers Electric A-Type into my Deluxe Reverb, I had a hankering for some Strat-like bridge pickup sounds. Grabbing my G&L Legacy, I fine-tuned the high-mid cut, taming some of that guitar’s spanky quack and adding some saturation by using just the slightest touch of gain. Moving to my Creston JM, with the Voyager MkII set to moderate gain, I cranked the boost in the lower mid frequencies, where I discovered a cocked-wah sound that lent a ’70s Zappa flair to some off-kilter leads.
The mid boost proved especially useful when getting my existing gear to sit well with the Mk II. In front of my Mattoverse Just-a-Phase, cranking the high mids lent noticeably more attack to a particularly gooey phaser setting in a useful way. And when I plugged into my Champ, I was able to beef-up that amp’s thinner sound in the same way I might otherwise use an EQ pedal.
The Verdict
The Voyager MkII is built from a Klon-style foundation. But its well-considered features make it a much more versatile tight boost and overdrive that’s easy to voice for different guitars, amps, and pedal pairings. With a wide range of tones on hand, it also allows me to stay “in the zone” when looking for a sound instead of going on a pedal-swapping hunt for tone. At $249, the Voyager is priced competitively with other pedals in its class but offers more room to roam.
Walrus Audio Voyager MKII Overdrive Pedal - Seafoam Green
Voyager Pre-Amp/Overdrive mkII - Seafoam GreenBassist Scott Thunes first started with Frank Zappa’s band when he was 21 years old.
The idiosyncratic musician has gone from Zappa to the classroom, even though he says “I can’t write a bass line to save my life.”
I was surprised, intrigued, and thrilled to encounter some rather audacious bass playing at an outdoor school benefit show I played this past fall in Lagunitas, California. I was nowhere near the stage (instead, I was waiting in line for my benefit show compensation—a free meal), but I could still hear the emergence of busy, angular lines and unusual chords rumbling across the hillside venue. When I started setting up for my band’s set and the earlier band was packing up, I spotted the responsible bassist, and it all made sense.
It was Scott Thunes, the low-end raconteur who started playing with Frank Zappa at age 21. He spent the better part of the ’80s in Zappa’s band, appearing on numerous live albums and a couple of studio recordings, including the bandleader’s 1982 Top 40 single, “Valley Girl.” His career resume includes stints with Steve Vai, Mike Keneally, the Waterboys, the Mother Hips, and Fear, among others.
In recent years, Thunes (pronounced “too-ness”) has toured with the re-formed Zappa Band, Banned from Utopia, which plays a few times a year at the venerable Los Angeles venue the Baked Potato. Catch one of these shows and you’ll see how Scott’s tremendous facility on his instrument and unusual creative approach add a level of complexity to Zappa’s famously challenging music.
“I can’t write a bass line to save my life,” he claims, striking a tone that seems less like a reluctant confession and more like a bold stylistic declaration. “For 99 percent of bass players, the job is to be the intermediary between the drums and the guitar—to be both harmonic and rhythmic. And a lot of bass parts have that really great element. That’s wonderful, but people who know my playing don’t hire me to do that,” he says.
“I’m not big on laying down a bass part and then just sitting on it. I’m not a groove monster, and I never have been. That’s not why Frank hired me. I need to have space to express myself, and unfortunately that makes me fall very drastically into the overplaying bass player type. I have absolutely no problem with that because Frank didn’t have a problem with that.”
Thunes describes his “mindful overplaying” as something he’s not always been happy with. “I’ve been fired from more bands than I’ve been hired by,” he deadpans, before allowing a slight, sly grin.
Then there’s the Ramones. Thunes is a teaching artist for the rock band program at Marin School of the Arts at Novato High School in Novato, California. On the day we spoke, his six teenage bands performed medleys of the pioneering American punk band’s material as part of a final exam.
“I was really not expecting them to do well with the Ramones,” he reveals, “especially the more advanced kids, who think the Ramones are too simple. But they pulled it off. I’m very happy about it. The energy was really high, the percentage of downstrokes was up at around 85 or 90 percent, and they got tired—they’re supposed to. It was a great experience for me today, to have my kids not piss all over one of the greatest bands of all time.”
As for his own approach to playing music. Scott says he doesn’t really think of himself as a bass player. “I think of myself as Scott Thunes, who has chosen the bass as the area in which I express myself,” he says. “Now, I may not be able to write a melody or a bass line, but I can find my way through the intricacies of a harmonic system and ply my trade. That’s really all I wanna do. I just want to find a space to put my stuff in.”
For a more in-depth perspective on Scott Thunes, check out two books by Thomas Wictor: In Cold Sweat: Interviews with Really Scary Musicians and Ghosts and Ballyhoo: Memoirs of a Failed L.A. Music Journalist.
Eminence Speaker launches the Karnivore guitar speaker, developed in collaboration with metal producer Kristian Kohle.
Eminence Speaker, renowned for its high-performance speakers in the heart of Kentucky, is launching the Karnivore, a groundbreaking guitar speaker developed in collaboration with world-class metal producer Kristian Kohle.
Following their successful partnership on the Eminence / Orange Bass Guitar Cabinet ImpulseResponse Pack and the Kristian Kohle DV-77 IR Pack, this new venture takes the Kohle/Eminence collaboration to new heights, bringing the ultimate high-gain solution to guitarists everywhere.
Available in 8 ohm and 16 ohm models, the 12” Karnivore is designed with a ceramic magnet to deliver everything heavy players need: a massive low end, a thick, vocal mid-range, and mid-range bite that effortlessly cuts through even the most demanding metal mixes — all without becoming harsh or brittle. Whether it's crushing rhythm tones or searing leads, the Karnivore provides the perfect balance of power and precision, making it a must-have for modern guitarists pushing the boundaries of tone.
Kristian Kohle, a renowned producer and engineer known for his work with legendary metal bands like Powerwolf, Aborted, and Electric Callboy, has been instrumental in shaping the Karnivore’s sonic profile. With years of expertise refining tones for metal artists, Kohle's influence can be heard in every aspect of the speaker's design, ensuring that the Karnivore is not only a technical marvel but also an artistic tool for achieving unparalleled high-gain tones.
Key features of the Karnivore:
- 12” speaker with ceramic magnet
- 8 and 16 ohm options available
The Karnivore carries a $159.99 street price.
For more information, please visit eminence.com.