Low E Bridge Pin Won't Stay Put

29er

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I just bought a set of bone bridge pins from Luthiers Mercantile and all is well except the low E string pin will not stay in while bringing the string up to pitch. I'm assuming this is due to the fact that the string takes up more room in the bridge than the other strings. Can I file material from the pin to allow room for the string or is there another fix?
 
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GardMan

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Are these slotted pins?

First, make sure that the ball of the string is not pulling the pin out as you tighten the string... Most of my pins have a bevel on the end, so that the string ball cannot catch the end of the pin and pull the pin out when I tighten the string. Even so, before starting to tension the strings, I always give the spring an upward pull while holding the pin in place, to make sure the ball and pin are correctly seated.

The 6th string (bass E) is the fattest string, and sometimes as you tighten it, the windings act like little ratchet teeth against the pin and cause it to rise out of position. If this is what is happening, you can just GENTLY push the pin back into place. DON'T FORCE IT! If it doesn't seat with gentle finger pressure, it is too tight, and you might split the bridge. If it is too tight, you can try and file the pin slot a little... or use sand paper to reduce the diameter of the shaft a little...

...but before you do that, just try swapping the pins around. Sometimes the slots are not identical, and you can find one that works better with the 6th string. IF that works, you might consider marking the bottom of the pin shaft with a sharpie, so you can tell that it's "special."
 

Br1ck

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I've had this on several guitars. Somewhat of a PITA, but holding the pin down while bring the string up to pitch has never failed me.
 

davismanLV

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And a reason that when I change strings I change and SEAT all the strings before I wind any! That way I can put my hand in and make sure the string is seated up against the bridge pin. Then once they're all seated I can start to wind and tighten strings. Haven't had that problem since i started stringing that way.
 

29er

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Yeah, I've dealt with this on other guitars but this one is a bit tougher. I did finally get it to stay in place after sanding a small amount of material from the pin.
 

Brucebubs

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Yes you lengthen the slot to allow more room for the fatter string binding to come through and the pin will sit down.
Here you can see the slot on the pin on the left extends above the collar - the pin on the right finishes below the collar.
PS22XPEl.jpg


Here's how mine look while I was working on them - 6E is sitting nicely and I got the 5A pin to sit down after a little more work.
1RpCyaJl.jpg


kSzkYAPl.jpg
 
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