Breedloves at Elderly Instruments

dreadnut

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Nice looking one here, but how are you supposed to change strings?

YdLatOi.jpg


 

fronobulax

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"pinless bridge" means nothing to me so I found this.


But looking at the picture and the video I don't feel like I am seeing the same bridge design.

Maybe this?

 

Brad Little

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There are some who think that the strings exert more pressure and transfer more sound with a pin bridge and bridge plate. The only valid comparison would be to record before and after of a conversion from pinless to pinned. There is at least one shop that offers the change for Sovereigns, although I don't think the comparison would be accurate because IIRC they also change the bracing from ladder to x-bracing.
 

Rayk

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Man I just talked myself out of looking at that premier concerto today ! As I got my gov stimulus check . I'm torn between that and a new kayak . Lol
But I just put into savings .
 

kostask

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The Sovereign shhomould never be converted over to an X brace, in my opinion. There are plenty of X braced guitars out there, not many ladder braced ones (any more). Ladder braced guitars from the 1930s are the sound of the acoustic blues (just ask Alvin Youngblood Hart).

How much of a tonal improvement you get by going from the through bridge (I.e pinless) to pin type bridge is debatable. If the saddle is working properly, the string should be terminated there, and there should not be any vibrational energy making it behind the saddle. There may be some minor break angle differences on the back of the saddle, but by far, the most important break angle is the one that is at the front of the saddle not behind it.

There is a tendency for the though bridges to come loose, though. Because the string tension is pulling up at the back of the bridge, instead of up against a bridge plate, there is more stress on the glue joint of the bridge. There is usually a brace below the bridge that helps some in terms f the top rigidity, but id doesn't do anything for the glue joint.

As for the alignment, you are supposed to align the barrel end so the rounded part is parallel to the long axis of the bridge. If you do not, you risk cracking the bridge.
 
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dreadnut

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Aha, I didn't see that the strings fed in from the bottom of the bridge! Evidently they can achieve the proper break angle.
 

kostask

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it used to be on almost all of the Harmony Sovereign line, and many of the non-Sovereign line of guitars. It worked well enough,

The recommended stringing procedure was to take a piece of the old guitar strings and use it to make sure that the ball ends were properly lined up before bringing the strings up to tension, to prevent damage to the bridge.
 

gjmalcyon

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As for the alignment, you are supposed to align the barrel end so the rounded part is parallel to the long axis of the bridge. If you do not, you risk cracking the bridge.

I was just testing my BS skills when I made my smart-a** post. I had no idea that was actually the case.
 

kostask

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The place where the ball end of the strings fit into the back of the bridge usually has (certainly on Harmony guitars, bur can"t say with any certainty on other brands) a semi-circular groove. The curved side of the ball end is supposed to fit snugly into that groove. if it were to be off by 90 degrees. there will be excessive pressure at the top and bottom of the groove, and there is a bery real possibility of cracking the bridge above the semi-circular groove.
 

davismanLV

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dreadnut, just so you know, the all-myrtlewood guitars are amazing. Myrtlewood is much stiffer and harder than spruce therefore they can get away with the top being thinner and more lightly braced. The response from that top will knock you on your a...... you'll like it alot!! And that concert size is a dream to play. Breedlove has moved into my top two guitar brands. I love the color of that one too!! Buy it ...... :love:
 

davismanLV

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Sometimes I think you people make up problems where none exist. The guy up above doesn't seem too concerned about the alignment of the ball ends. If my bridge flies off the guitar, I'll let you know. And I'll let Breedlove know after that. It'll be covered. Stay calm.....
 
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Brucebubs

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I had a 1996 Taylor 422 with a pinless bridge.
String changing was easy but I liked to slacken off then cut the strings an inch or two in front of the bridge rather than try pulling the old curly end from the tuner back through the hole and cause undue wear.
 

kostask

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Anybody can do what they want with their guitar. However, the bridge cracking in the back of a through hole bridge is not made up (ask me how I know). And I didn't come up with this on my own, the same luthier that is repairing my F-50R told me about it, after repairing the cracked bridge on my Harmony 1260. And the bridge doesn't come flying off, the top ledge above the groove cracks.

in post #7, the areas where the ball ends go through, Breedlove appears to have counterbored the holes. This probably eliminates the need to align the ball ends. Without thise counterbores, alignment would still be an issue, as it is on Harmony guitars.
 
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bobouz

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Seeing as I have a Breedlove mandolin & live in Oregon where they’re made, I’ve had an ongoing interest in the brand for quite some time. Unfortunately, I’ve never been a fan of pinless bridges (because the bridge’s glue joint must hold against the full string load) & they’re a deal breaker for me. At one time, Breedlove had a few USA-made models with standard pin bridges, which I still find intriguing.
 

davismanLV

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I had a 1996 Taylor 422 with a pinless bridge.
String changing was easy but I liked to slacken off then cut the strings an inch or two in front of the bridge rather than try pulling the old curly end from the tuner back through the hole and cause undue wear.
Same here Bruce. I'd cut off the squirrelly ends so I could just slip the straight string right out easily. First time I changed strings i got the twisty part down there and wondered how it was gonna work. Then just took the snips and cut them all off and threw everything in my string recycling bag that goes to D'addario for credit and recycle.
 
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