Early 2000s Nitefly saddle swap question

[jreamsnyder]

Hey gang,

I've got an early 2000s Nitefly with the Dimarzio hum buckers and the "2 balls" saddles on the bridge. The low E string saddle is shot, or at least I think it is. None of the balls are missing, but in acoustic mode that string has zero output.

By browsing these forums I was led to Wiguitar on eBay and found these replacement saddles:

http://m.ebay.com/itm/172749081023?_mwBanner=1

So I've got a few questions:

1. Are these newer style saddles compatible with my Parker?
2. Do I need to replace just 1 or should I replace all 6?
3. Will this item give me what I need or do I need additional parts? I took the panel off the back of the guitar, and all the solder points and components look good.
4. I noticed the new saddles don't have any leads coming out of them. Is this remedied by simply soldering a new wire in there, or do I salvage the leads out of my old saddles, or am I just waaaay off base?

I have no plans of doing this work myself. My soldering skills are.... poor, and I'd much rather pay a pro to set everything up correctly. I play the guitar, I don't work on them lol.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

[mmmmgtr]

Those are non Piezo saddles.

[mmmmgtr]

I'm sorry I hit send too soon. That seller typically will have the Saddles they may just not be listed currently you can contact him directly he's a great guy I bought a lot of stuff off of him

[jreamsnyder]

Glad I asked. So I need one described as a piezo saddle, like this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/172850786387

Could I get away with just replacing 1 or should I replace all 6?

I ask because at that point we're getting a little pricey and I'm wondering if there are any alternative solutions. I keep seeing the name graphtech thrown around, do they make replacement saddles?

Thanks again for any info!

[mmmmgtr]

I don't have personal experience with using different versions of the Parker saddles intermixed. My opinion would be best to replace Saddles so that all of them are of the same type. That would minimize possible irregularities between saddle types. I expect that intermixing them would work, however I'm simply not sure if there would be any tonal or performance differences by using different saddle types on the same guitar.

The Graphtech Saddles should work with your night fly and that same eBay seller typically has them available.I would think intermixing the different Parker saddles might work, but I would not mix Graphtec and Parker saddles on the same guitar.

Some people here prefer the Parker saddles, while others like the graphtech saddles. I'm not sure I have a strong opinion as I've had positive experience with both.

[ZemanG2]

If you are ok with the looks of it, mixing and matching should be fine, however you may need to take into consideration different piezo output. I have 8 of the ball bearing style you are talking about. I am thinking about letting them go as I have a set of graphtech and just another set of saddles lying around. If you are interested PM me and maybe we can find a agreeable price.

But the guy on ebay is a cool cat, Ive bought oodles off of him. Send him a message on ebay and just ask what he has.