Fender Strat Regains Its Tone

My American Deluxe Strat lost its tone. Seriously. I had no idea how dead and dull this guitar sounded until I got my new Malmsteen Strat. After listening to them both, plugged in and unplugged, I determined that my American Strat was simply dead... toneless. I had no idea why or what to do about it other than sell it for a replacement.

Then I realized that the Tusq saddles might be the problem. I really like the Graphtech stuff and I currently have the black ones on my Ernie Ball MusicMan Petrucci guitar and I love the sound of them. On my Strat, however, they sounded dull and sustainless. I dug up the original stainless steel saddles and put them back on. Wham! The tone was back and the sustain was awesome. Not quite as nice as the YJM, but pretty close. The original stainless saddles are extra hard, so I shouldn't have any burrs or tuning problems with them. The repair person I used just put the Tusq saddles on and assured me they were better. They weren't. ;) It took getting another Strat for comparison to realize just how bad they were.