Hamer 4 dig Standard with Ivory saddle?

[Disturber]

I just got my 1980 4 digit Standard back from

the tech yesteday. He did a tremendous job

as always. The frets got a dressing and he

gave the guitar a full setup. It plays like

greased butta´! This guitar is one of the best

I've played ever & it sustains like a mofo.

Tone, tone, tone!

Now to the strange. The tech said the saddle

was ivory. I'm 99% sure it's the original saddle.

Did Hamer use this on all early 4 digit Standards,

or was it perhaps just a batch of ivory they had

laid their hands on, for some reason.

Not so politically correct these days, but a pretty

cool feature non the less. I wonder if it was

Jol or Paul who shot the elephant.

[martin-uk]

I recall our own Andrew Large telling me during a conversation that some time's they used to use whatever part's was at hand at the time,as andrew has a standard with a tune-o-matic not an a.b.r.1 type bridge.

So do you think it's a spare from the old repair shop they used to run together?

martin.

[BCR Greg]

The NUT is fossilised Ivory, not the saddle. Mattias gets points for using several languages well, but the translation got a little sideways there.

Fossilised Ivory is available all over.

[Disturber]

The NUT is fossilised Ivory, not the saddle.  Mattias gets points for using several languages well, but the translation got a little sideways there.

Fossilised Ivory is available all over.

Thanks Greg!

Fossilised Ivory. Wow! I'm pretty sure mine comes

from a frozen Mammut.

[Steve Haynie]

For those curious about ivory in today's market, you can buy ivory legally. It is expensive, but legal. African governments will sell a small amount of confiscated ivory. Doing so satisfies some of the ivory market, and takes away some profitability for poachers. This does not mean that there is an endless supply available.

Gun grips made of ivory are occasionally available at a high price. From what I have read, the ivory has a unique feel that picks up warmth from your hand in a way that synthetic ivory does not. A pitfall is that the ivory will shrink over time leaving cracks around the screws.

Not having seen enough old guitars, I wonder how well true ivory saddles and nuts hold up over time, especially on well-played instruments.