Bridge pin tone?

[Steelpickin']

I have read on many other Forums about this one and that one who swear that they put a different type ( material) bridge pin in there guitar and experienced a great change in tone! I have even had folks try to convince me that they can hear the differencr between solid and slotted bridge pins. The only luthiers that have ever agreed with this are the ones who wanted to sell me new bridge pins at a ridiculess price ( told you I cant spell) I have a pretty good ear and I cannot for the life of me hear any difference what so ever. Actually I believe that the only reason that folks will hear any change in there tone is due to the fact that they just changed there strings when they switched bridge pins! :shock: .......
ok,........let me have it!!! :wink: :wink:
What do YOU think????

....what the hell do I know, anyway?? :?

 

[FNG]

You might get a little bit of more tone with different pins, but I always go with bone..they last longer and I just don't like cheesy plastic ones.

 

[BluesDan]

I'm with ya on this one Steel. I have upgraded EVERY single one of my acoustics, past & present, to either bone or Tusq pins......hoping to finally hear the alleged tonal improvement.........but honestly...... I never noticed any change. Maybe my hearing is a little shot from riding the fire trucks with sirens blarin' and air horns blastin' every day........but for the life of me I can't detect a difference. With that said, I'll probably upgrade my next acoustic too, hoping to finally hear the improvement...............

OK........cue all the bone pin afficiondos with their rebuttal........... :mrgreen: :wink:

 

[sitka_spruce]

You could ask Willy Porter that! He uses ebony pins for holding his treble strings for increased frequency range.
http://www.guildguitars.com/instruments ... 3809006837

 

[West R Lee]

Now you tell me....right after I bought bone pins, saddle and nut. No seriously, the plastic pins in the D25 just wouldn't take much more. They looked like little boomerangs. Very badly bent and worn.

West

 

[Steelpickin']

I definetly think saddle and nut make a difference. But I think bridge pins just make your guitar look better with different materials. They just help hold the strings in place IMHO :wink: But hey, if I can sell you some and make some extra cash.......isn't it all just clever marketing??
..hope I am not ticking anyone off ... do any of YOU hear a difference? inspite of what I or anyone else says?

 

[gilded]

Hi, Steel,

My fave luthier thinks different pins make a difference. He likes fossilized bone pins. I think he believes that harder pins (harder vs. the 'softer' plastic pins) don't soak up any of the energy from the string vibration, which leaves more energy to energize the top....

I don't know if he's right or wrong, but I do know that he doesn't care if I buy my pins from him or from the supplier, so he's not making money off of the purchase price.

gilded

 

[Metalman]

About a year ago, I bought a set of Tusq bridge pins, a saddle, and a nut, all at once. The plan was to replace the either plastic or bone parts in my Guild F-47RCE all at once.
I first played the guitar with the original nut, pins,and saddle and gave it a good listen. The strings on the guitar were used, but not dead.
I then right away took the guitar to my work bench, and changed out the necessary parts, you know, do I have to say it again? alright; the bridge pins, saddle and nut. There . . .
Did the job (everything fit, without too much alteration), and right away strung it up with the same strings, and went back into my studio, and gave a listen, remembering how it sounded just a few minutes ago.
Well, the resut was, the guitar sounded as though I had put on a new set of strings. It was that radical of a difference.

I don't think any one component will do that much to improve the sound of the guitar. But the complete overhaul of all the parts is what is necessary.

That has been my experience. Now I have Tusq bridge pins, saddle, and nuts on all the guitars you see listed. AND a JLD Bridge Doctor.

 

[Steelpickin']

I agree completly with the nut and saddle upgrades.I think they are very important if your guitar doesn't have them allready. I am talking about folks who swear they can hear a mountian of difference by just changing bridge pins...and nothing else...I dont get it but thats ok...I dont understand alot of things! Some of these same people on this OTHER Forum swear that they can tell the difference in tone between slotted and un-slotted bridge pins!!....I have trouble taking them serriously :wink:
...oh well, I just wondered thats all! I'm tired and its time for my meds.
...time to go to Larryland....

 

[Dr Izza Plumber]

I can physically hear the difference in tone on the two gits which I added bone pins. The best word that I can use to describe the sound is "bell" like tone. Of course My gits already have bone nuts and saddles. I feel that ebony is probably a good all around material for pins, but even My Luthier can hear the difference in tone with bone pins.
He liked the different tone so much that He now stocks bone pins.

 

[dreadnut]

OH YEAH? OH YEAH? Well, I just got a new set of abalone inlaid black tusq pins for my DV-52 recently off e-bay for about $15 including shipping, and I'm here to tell you, my guitar sounds at least $15 better than it did! Well, anyway it looks that much better

Seriously, I do think it improved the tone slightly, but I couldn't prove it. Gotta sound better than plastic in my way of thinking, but then so should bone, ebony or anything harder than the cheap plastic ones Guild used to use. My partner's got brass ones. String pins, that is :lol:

 

[Scratch]

For what it is worth, my friend, Ross the magic luthier has replaced the saddle and nut on several of my guitars with bone. He recommends against changing the pins unless they are cracked/broken. In his opinion, they are nice aesthetics, but do little to improve sound quality. In my opinion; to each his own...

 

[chazmo]

I remain open-minded about this.

My F512 is such a cannon that I can't really imagine I'll notice any significant change, but I will go for new pins soon -- probably something light-colored like bone to preserve the look. I don't like the plastic pins it comes with; they seem cheezy to me. I think I'm spoiled by Taylor's products.

 

[Graham]

I don't like the plastic pins it comes with; they seem cheezy to me.

I think that's what it is for me as well. Plus the guy in me has to be able to tinker with the guitar somewhat. :wink:

 

[dklsplace]

I did a little test awhile back & recorded the same short diddy with 4 different sets of pins in my JF-30. I "felt" there were differences in each as I was playing, even with time spent in between to change pins. Listening to each back to back, there were definitely differences though no holy grail moments. After that little experiment, I switched from ebony to bone pins in all my regular guitars.

Those I tested were ebony, bone, tusq, & plastic. Tried a set of brass pins I used to use in a different guitar, but they wouldn't fit the JF-30.

 

[West R Lee]

Interesting Don. It seems that all the guys that should know, say bone.

West

 

[mole2]

I believe the sound difference you hear when you just change the bridge pins is due to the fact that you just detuned the strings and retuned them. That seems to make them ring like new strings again...at least it does for me. It must shake some of the dirt loose.

I do replace the saddles on all my guitars with either bone or Tusq. I believe the saddles and nuts can make a big difference in the sound of the guitar. I now prefer the Tusq.

I do replace the pins for looks but I can't see how something AFTER the active string area and so small is going to affect the tone of the string. It's sole purpose is to prevent the ball end of the string from slipping out when you tune it up. If you have one of those slotted bridges that hold the ball end then after tuning the guitar you can even remove the bridge pins.

 

[Metalman]

In the order of importance to the amount of effect each part has to the sound of the guitar, I submit this list:

1) Saddle

2) Nut

3) Bridge pins

Tusq is supposed to give the sound that bone does, but the company claims that bone, being an organic material, has high spots and low spots, thereby being somewhat inconsistent.
I, for one, do not see how the nut can affect the sound that much once you have fretted your first fret. After that, the frets have cut off all contact with the nut.
On the other side, the same is true, sort of, with the bridge pins. I don't see how they affect sound that much because of their role, which is to hold the strings in place.
Anybody else have a comment?
I played it safe and changed all the components.

 

[12 string]

In the order of importance to the amount of effect each part has to the sound of the guitar, I submit this list:

1) Saddle

2) Nut

3) Bridge pins

Tusq is supposed to give the sound that bone does, but the company claims that bone, being an organic material, has high spots and low spots, thereby being somewhat inconsistent.
I, for one, do not see how the nut can affect the sound that much once you have fretted your first fret.

MM, I think that pretty much says it. I understand Steel's skepticism about the pins, but Don's comment about them just changing the character or flavor of the tone a little seems to resonate with me. There are also cosmetic issues and it gives us a chance to personalize our instruments a bit. On different guitars I have pins of bone, tusq, plastic, and brass, different colors, with and without inlay. I wouldn't necessarily swear by any of them.

I doubt if we'll ever settle the tusq vs bone issue to everybody's satisfaction, but I'm a bone guy. Maybe I'm just so old fashioned that I've ossified.

' Strang

 

[chazmo]

[...] I don't see how they affect sound that much because of their role, which is to hold the strings in place.
Anybody else have a comment? [...]

I think the that the pins make direct contact with the string ball ends, and presumably they do transmit vibration within the bridge. Thus, they play a role. To what degree, I don't know.

It's surprising how relevant the components "behind" the saddle (i.e., the bridge holes and slots, and the pins) are to the sound. If you've ever seated the ball end of a string incorrectly, even with the bridge pin all the way in, you can hear buzzing and thuddy sound resonation... it's rather remarkable that it matters at all, but it does!