Bone Pins Question

[Jeff]

trying to show the beautiful pattern in the ab w/o blowing out the white bone. What doesn't come out as well in the photo is the iridescence of the ab... they are quite stunning. A great match for the fret markers on the D-55.

Nice !! We ought to send Gordon a link to some of the comments here. He does make nice guitar pins.

 

[Guildmark]

Gordon's are gorgeous.

The ones from Maury were installed in my D-55 two weeks ago and I am very happy with them. The fit was right on, they look great, and the tone improvement, though not major, is noticeable. Saddle and nut were already bone.
I also had an L.R. Baggs iBeam installed.
F R E E D O M ! !
I wish I had not waited so long, but I got stuck in analysis paralysis.

Had a new bone nut built for my 12 string to replace the chipped one. Paul Stebner of Guitar Remedy in Tustin, CA did all the work. I'm very happy with everything he did.

 

[West R Lee]

You guys really have me curious as to what my D25 would sound like if I ditched the plastic saddle and pins for bone.

West

 

[FNG]

Do it West..cheap, easy and fun little sound improvement project.

 

[West R Lee]

I will at some point, I'll have to out Don on it soon. I need them by October.

West

 

[guildzilla]

On another thread I talked about getting some new pins, though I've been slow to complete the project and provide feedback.

Anyhow, I did change out the old plastic (and mismatched) pins in my D-25 to a set of bone pins. The results are a subtle but noticible improvement in tone, sustain and volume. The guitar already sounded good before the change, but it was worth the $18.

Moreover, the bone w/ abalone dot pins look a lot classier.

 

[West R Lee]

GardMan,

Do you remember how much those abalone bone pins for your D55 cost. Might be kind of personal, but if you don't mind? I've got plastic in my D55 and it sounds awesome now, I can't imagine them sounding much better, but I'm sure they might. My pins don't fit real well anyway.

West

 

[Jeff]

$35.00 from Gordon Orth, custom, dot inlays of your choice.

 

[FNG]

Hey Jeff...do you have any contact info for Gordon. A set of bone with turquoise inlays is my quest. 8)

 

[Jeff]

FNG

Sure, Gordon Orth

Hobby Music
516 South Francis St
Saint Francis, Ks 67756-3552

Phone: 785 332 2540

Email orth@kans.com

here's a link to some discussion here when I sized the pins for the order & tweaked the GF 60 for fit.

 

[West R Lee]

Tell him to make 2 sets of those FNG! I know what you want those for, but I'd really like to get some of the fossilized ivory in that dark brown natural color for the D25...along with a saddle and maybe a nut. Then there's the D55, the pins I've got don't fit....way too loose.

West

 

[GardMan]

GardMan,
Do you remember how much those abalone bone pins for your D55 cost. Might be kind of personal, but if you don't mind? I've got plastic in my D55 and it sounds awesome now, I can't imagine them sounding much better, but I'm sure they might. My pins don't fit real well anyway.
West

Sorry for the late reply, West... somehow I missed your post. Jeff pegged it right... $35. I had two sets made, for the D-55 and G-37, both copied from the plastic pins that came in the respective guitars. They're both lovely. Next will be a tortoise dot set for the D-25M.

 

[kitniyatran]

I put bone pins in my D-25NT Monday night. I did one string at a time & checked each string against the plastic pinned ones as I did them. I immediately heard more overtones(better harmonics), & a more "solid" tone. I think I'm gonna like 'em!

 

[JerryR]

$35.00 from Gordon Orth, custom, dot inlays of your choice.

I'm having the luthier I use change my plastic bridge saddle on the D35 to bone in the near future (reckons he will do it while I'm in Mexico for 2 weeks), but he says bone pins are hard to come by (3rd world country here). Gordon Orth sounds a bit upmarket - I was just thinking of changing the plastic pins at some time, but do you know a mail order supplier that would do plain bone pins suitable for a D35 :?: And would deliver to the UK :?:

 

[kitniyatran]

I got my pins from Elderly Instruments in Michigan. They didn't have any guide for size, so fit was a gamble. they're a bit large, but I figure if I give them a manicure each string change, they'll eventually fit better, not that they fit all that badly now, 4 of them stick up a bit high, but not enough to be a problem.

 

[West R Lee]

Hey Jeffrey,

When you posted that picture of your sizing your pins, did you sand down the pins, or the pin hole. I'm sure you did the pins, right?

West

 

[Jeff]

West,

The pins the GF 60 came with were an odd size, & the existing holes were not consistent, after talking with Gordon Orth I elected to order pins just a tad fatter. More of a standard size.

The difference was miniscule, a couple of the new pins fit properly without doing anything to the guitar. All it took was a few gentle twists with the 320 grit sandpaper & rest of the the new pins seated perfectly, Much better fit than the original pins.

 

[West R Lee]

But you actually took wood out of the hole in the bridge, or took bone off the pins?

West

 

[Jeff]

Steady yourself West,

I actually gently sanded the holes in the bridge on the GF 60. I repeat "Gently". Didn't seem to remove much material, more like removing finish & gunk from inside the holes. , I used the old pins as a sort of mandrell, cut little bits of sandpaper to fit the contour of the pins & gently, very gently, trued the inside diameter of the bridgepin holes to fit the pins. It didn't take much & it'd be very easy to go too far. Real easy to go to far.

I'd wrap the sandpaper tight around the pin, carefully insert it in the hole, give it a couple gentle twists & check for fit. When the new pins got close to bottoming out I quit, figuring over time the wood & the pins will wear in the last 2%.

Here are the pictures of the measurements I sent to Gordon Orth, looking back at the pictures, the old pins didn't fit all that well. I seem to remember trying pins from my other guitars in the GF 60 & none of them fit right either. They were all too big or too small, mostly too big I think.

 

[FNG]

Tell him to make 2 sets of those FNG! I know what you want those for, but I'd really like to get some of the fossilized ivory in that dark brown natural color for the D25...along with a saddle and maybe a nut. Then there's the D55, the pins I've got don't fit....way too loose.

West

Hey West...I did email Gordon, and he doesn't do any turquoise inlays. I went with black inlays for the pins for my DV72, and they look great.