Bridge pins, To slot or not.

[AcornHouse]

This was a tip my luthier told me about when I first started really getting into guitars (I.e. Guilds) and getting them worked on. Unslotted bridge pins really do sound better.

 

[Uke]

Granted, I'm not a connoisseur of bridge pin technology, but I can't hear any difference -- maybe because the demo is coming out of computer speakers.

 

[schoolie]

I must confess that I use Platemates on all but one of my guitars. My M-40 has the bridge slotted and solid rosewood pins. That Driftwood dude is a gifted self-promoter.

 

[merlin6666]

I think that the whole business of slotted pins only came up when they started to get mass produced as plastic products in molds. If you turn your own on a lathe why mess with them and cut a slot, if slot in the bridge does better job?

 

[Westerly Wood]

Granted, I'm not a connoisseur of bridge pin technology, but I can't hear any difference -- maybe because the demo is coming out of computer speakers.

yeah, I couldn't hear a difference either. guitar kind of sounds like a Martin though.
his guitar also kind a sounds like an acoustic guitar.

 

[RBSinTo]

Why do I think that if unslotted bridge pins made a significant improvement to guitar sound quality, that they would be standard equipment on all high end guitars?
This business sounds like another profitable solution to a non-existent problem.
RBSinTo

 

[Guildedagain]

Not sure I'm willing to alter my guitars, they already sound pretty good and I'm cheap, I mean inexpensive and built to stay that way ;[]

 

[HeyMikey]

I don’t know if it’s unslotted bridge pins that make the difference. It is more the slotted bridge pin holes, which allow for a better break angle and firmer setting of the string ball end. That part makes perfect sense to me.

 

[RBSinTo]

I don’t know if it’s unslotted bridge pins that make the difference. It is more the slotted bridge pin holes, which allow for a better break angle and firmer setting of the string ball end. That part makes perfect sense to me.

HeyMikey,
I think the approximate 160 lbs. of pressure per string on a steel string acoustic guitar, would firmly set the string ball ends just fine.
RBSinTo

 

[HeyMikey]

HeyMikey,
I think the approximate 160 lbs. of pressure per string on a steel string acoustic guitar, would firmly set the string ball ends just fine.
RBSinTo

Unless they don’t set just fine, which is known to happen. I’m just agreeing with the luthier opinion in the video.

Edit: However if you take the time, give the strings a little tug as you set the pins ,they will likely set fine. I think the slotting will help assure that. The improved break angle just makes good sense and it is a known tone improvement for guitars with a poor neck angle.

I looked at a few of mine last night and they all have a light amount of slotting. Maybe it’s because all mine were bought used and at some point in their history the slotting was done as part of a professional set up. I don’t know for sure.

I don’t know how things typically came from the various factories. Guild’s production is known to have involved a good amount of hand work, and their volume was often low in comparison to the big names.

 

[fronobulax]

I couldn't hear any difference but that could be due to anything from hearing damage from the days before I realized I needed to wear earplugs at concerts to playing the video at low volume on laptop speakers.

The claim is that the sound is better with a slotted bridge and an unslotted pin, compared to an unslotted bridge and a slotted pin, correct? I find that believable because the break angle will change. In practice I wonder whether the individual who strung the instrument is also a factor. How much attention were they paying to the alignment of the ball ends and does that make a difference in "setting" the pins?

The video makes it clear that slotted bridges were once the norm and the change was driven by the economics of a mass production environment. So this can be viewed as part of the general subculture ("hot rodding") that customized mass produced items to get better performance by "correcting" design and manufacturing choices made to save money. (overclocking a CPU, tuning an engine, etc.) Not everybody wants or needs those performance enhancements in general and people who don't tend to ask those who do "why?"

 

[GAD]

As someone who's only ever seen slotted pins, I'm having trouble understanding how non-slotted pins work. Is there a slot for the string cut into the wood?

<went and watched the video>

Apparently yes!

I think most acoustic guitars I've owned have developed their own channels over time, but I've only ever bought one guitar new.

As for the video I do hear a difference but I'm not sure it's the kind of difference that the average player would notice, though they might like one over the other and not be able to articulate why, though I think for people like us who obsess over little details it's a nice improvement.

 

[chazmo]

I'm going to have to put this on my list of things that need to be tried and compared.

I've always felt that the bridge pins don't really have much of a tonal influence. I can't weigh in at all in the slotted vs. unslotted bridge pin discussion.

However, I've been studying Martin's recent "custom shop expert" models and Martin has been pushing their Luxe bridge pins and claiming they make a difference. The demonstration of bouncing metal ball bearings off of different metal plates is rather astounding. Whether this has a sonic effect... I dunno. It's interesting stuff.

LUXE BY MARTIN® Bridge Pins (Bone) | Martin Guitar

Shop LUXE BY MARTIN® Bridge Pins (Bone) and other Martin Guitar apparel, accessories, and guitar straps!

www.martinguitar.com

 

[merlin6666]

I'm going to have to put this on my list of things that need to be tried and compared.

I've always felt that the bridge pins don't really have much of a tonal influence. I can't weigh in at all in the slotted vs. unslotted bridge pin discussion.

However, I've been studying Martin's recent "custom shop expert" models and Martin has been pushing their Luxe bridge pins and claiming they make a difference. The demonstration of bouncing metal ball bearings off of different metal plates is rather astounding. Whether this has a sonic effect... I dunno. It's interesting stuff.

LUXE BY MARTIN® Bridge Pins (Bone) | Martin Guitar

Shop LUXE BY MARTIN® Bridge Pins (Bone) and other Martin Guitar apparel, accessories, and guitar straps!

www.martinguitar.com

Yikes and they don't even show if there's a slot or not. There is a bit of documentation on pins too

HEAR A PIN DROP - Bridge Pins on Martin Guitars

 

[chazmo]

You're right, they don't, Merlin. I don't have a picture of an actual guitar with these in use to see if someone ramped the bridge slots or not. Not that that's proof or not about the pins.