D201

[hognogger]

About a year ago, I bought one of those Furch-made Golds that they have been blowing out on ebay.

I've always liked it in the time I've had it, but only just recently switched out the tusq saddle for bone.

What a difference that made! There was always a touch of harshness on the high B and E strings, but now that's gone, and it's quite sweet-sounding now, especially for fingerstyle. Sustain is increased as well. Seems a shame not to have bone on such a nice guitar from the get-go.

The guitar has always had excellent string-separation, and the quickest attack-phase of pretty much any dread I've played. (Guess that's the AXX bracing at work?) In those respects, it really does remind me of a nice classical guitar.

So, thanks Avalon.

[Dr.Dirk]

Hi, that's interesting. I have a D200 Gold from the Furch workshop and think it is and incredibly interesting sounding guitar. It has that harshness you describe in your post, but at the same time a stunning sustain and the tone is there very fast. If a saddle change really makes such a difference on this series,that's what I should try.

Maybe it is different with the Sitka top, but it seems to be a good idea anyway. I will never understand the Tusq saddle policy of some guitar makers when selling a rather expensive guitar. It is such a small difference in cost and can make such a big difference in sound... . Glad, that no Irish made Avalons have ever had anything else than bone saddles!

[hognogger]

I suspect you will definitely get, at the very least, a reduction in the harshness. There was also a kind of plinky sound to the top end, but that's gone too.

Definitely a good idea to try it out, as it sounds like your experience of the tusq saddle is similar to mine.

[Dr.Dirk]

I will definately give it a try when I find the time and let you know in this forum. Thanks!

[hognogger]

Incidentally, I took the guitar in to my luthier for some work recently, and he hadn't seen it for about a year. When he'd last seen it, it was new and hadn't been played much.

He thought it sounded much sweeter now than then, which sounds right to me. He said that cedar tops often start off sounding a bit brittle, and improve when they are played in. Thought that was interesting, because it runs against what seems to be the general consensus on internet forums, namely, that cedar-topped guitars don't really benefit much from being played-in.