Ebony pins actually made a difference. I didn't expect it.

[sirwhale]

I play with 11s and sometimes if i play too hard the treble strings can sound slightly brittle (especially if they lap the frets).

I really wasn't sure if it would make a change but as I had read about it enough times on the forum I sought out some ebony bridge pins to replace the original tusq ones.

Now, because of the slotted bridge, it made the comparison easier, I simply kept the strings at the same pitch and swapped the pins in and out to compare.

It's still a great sounding guitar and it still has it's specific sound with these strings (of course), but the slight brittleness has been rounded. My wife thought the same thing.

So for slight changes, maybe bridge pins can make a difference. Maybe this is more noticeable on carbon fibre, I don't know, but I thought I'd share the story as it surprised me and maybe it will help someone else make a choice.

[PeteCady]

I went to boxwood pins in the Shorty SFT and to ebony in the Smoky SMH. I hear an improvement in both. Hard to tell if I'm imagining it, but I don't believe so.

[TNO]

I've always found Tusq to be kind of brittle. Ivoroid doesn't have that but I still prefer ebony or boxwood.