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Topic: Bridgepins, saddles, nuts: bone, horn, ivory v tusq, micarta |
Darryl Hattenhauer
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 3 Jun 2009 5:17 pm |
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On my acoustics, I've been experimenting with saddles, nuts, and bridgepins made of different materials. Although ebony and old plastic sound inferior to me, my lousy ear can't hear a difference between the organics (bone, horn, ivory) and the best composites (tusq, micarta).
Does anybody know of any experiments with controlled variables where they have recorded the sounds made by various materials such as bone, tusq, etc?
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Scott Shipley
From:
The Ozark Mountains
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Posted 4 Jun 2009 9:11 pm
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i use bone almost exclusively for all the above. There are oils in bone that serve as natural lubricants. Far superior for nuts and saddles, and they make a noticeable difference in tone when used for bridge pins. Also, have your bridge pin holes slotted inward toward the saddle.. Makes a HUGE difference. The whole top moves without obstruction with every pick stroke that way.
Brass bridge pins add too much weight and can be bad about pinching and cutting strings when used for nuts and saddles.
On some vintage parlor size guitars I like ebony for bridge pins. They just look nicer to me on those old pieces.
Just my 2 cents!
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Scott Shipley Facebook |
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Darryl Hattenhauer
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 4 Jun 2009 9:31 pm
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Scott,
More like 2 million than 2 cents. I had no idea about the natural oil in bone.
What sound difference do you get with ebony pins?
dh
_________________
Steel crazy after all these years.
$100 reward for info leading to the purchase of a fender D8 white, yellow, or butterscotch. |
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Scott Shipley
From:
The Ozark Mountains
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Posted 4 Jun 2009 9:38 pm
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To my ear, ebony is a softer tone. Better suited for those little parlor jobs. Still FAR superior to plastic (shudder) or any synthetics that I've tried. Micarta is just a fancy name for plastic, kinda like Melmac. Tusq is ok, but if you have a decent instrument, go with bone.
I made my first set of bone bridge pins years ago from scratch, before you could buy them pre-made. Took me probably 50-60 hours to make. They sounded great, but then a few months later Stew-Mac started offering them for about $20 a set.
I was not amused.
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Scott Shipley Facebook |
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Darryl Hattenhauer
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 5 Jun 2009 8:32 am
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| Quote: |
| kinda like Melmac. |
LOL. That definitely gets the point across!
How are those Stew-mac bone pins? $20 is cheap, right?
Also, I just heard yesterday that real old vintage guitars used bone. So when did Martin, Gibson, etc go to plastic?
Also, is your myspace link working? I can't access it.
_________________
Steel crazy after all these years.
$100 reward for info leading to the purchase of a fender D8 white, yellow, or butterscotch. |
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Scott Shipley
From:
The Ozark Mountains
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Posted 5 Jun 2009 9:22 am
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The Stew Mac pins are great. Nicely done and a great price.
Not sure when the big boys stopped using bone, nowadays the pins don't even fit good. It's a shame.
Try the link now, it should work.
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Chip Fossa
From:
Monson, MA, USA (deceased)
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Posted 5 Jun 2009 10:28 am
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BTW -
Stew-Mac has a whole section on customizing your bridge pins. Actually gouging-out the proper width for each pin to accept it's appropriate string dimension.
Many claims are made for this time-consuming, and questionable, procedure.
I have no opinion one way or the other on their claims. In my case, the jury is still out.
FWIW
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Chip
Williams U-12 8X5; Keyless; Natural Blonde Laquer. |
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