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  #1  
Old 09-11-2009, 06:06 AM
Troisnoir Troisnoir is offline
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Default bone vs rosewood bridge pins?

I've posted this on another forum, then realized I should probably post it here...

I have a Taylor GS8 that I've changed the Tusq nut and saddle on to bone. Great improvement!

Is it worth going to bone bridge pins? I can see the saddle and nut, that was just Tusq, but my guitar has quality rosewood pins already, not plastic. Other than personal preferences of course, would bone be substantially better than the rosewood?

In case it's a matter of preference, what would the tonal change be?
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Old 09-11-2009, 06:43 AM
Hendra Hendra is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Troisnoir View Post
I've posted this on another forum, then realized I should probably post it here...

I have a Taylor GS8 that I've changed the Tusq nut and saddle on to bone. Great improvement!

Is it worth going to bone bridge pins? I can see the saddle and nut, that was just Tusq, but my guitar has quality rosewood pins already, not plastic. Other than personal preferences of course, would bone be substantially better than the rosewood?

In case it's a matter of preference, what would the tonal change be?
I have bone pin on mine. When i swap between the bone and original saddle and compare the tone. There's no difference. At least to my ear.
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  #3  
Old 09-11-2009, 06:47 AM
LP26 LP26 is offline
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Bridge pins make the least, if any difference in tone. Folks who sell them will tell you otherwise, but the fact is that a bridge pin change is largely cosmetic.

The saddle makes the biggest difference, a significant one. The nut only provides a tonal change to open strings.

“You pays your money and you takes your chances.”

There are a lot of snake oil salesmen out there.
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Old 09-11-2009, 07:27 AM
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kscobie8 kscobie8 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LP26 View Post
Bridge pins make the least, if any difference in tone. Folks who sell them will tell you otherwise, but the fact is that a bridge pin change is largely cosmetic.

The saddle makes the biggest difference, a significant one. The nut only provides a tonal change to open strings.

“You pays your money and you takes your chances.”

There are a lot of snake oil salesmen out there.
+1 on that. There's not a whole lot of vibration going on between the saddle and the pins to make any difference. Depending on the type of bone pins, the only advantage over wood I can possible see is durrability.
And to extend the thought a bit, I would say brass pins have a better chance of having an audible difference than bone, since the mass is much greater.

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Old 09-11-2009, 07:27 AM
Dan Carey Dan Carey is offline
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I just put a bone saddle on my GC3...BIG difference in clarity and sustain!
Then I swapped out the ebony pins I had with a set of bone. No noticeable difference at all to my ears.

The bone pins sure look pretty, though.
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Old 09-11-2009, 07:39 AM
Troisnoir Troisnoir is offline
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Sounds like crappy or ill-fitting pins might negatively affect the tone, but high quality pins won't improve things much. Good to know!
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Old 09-11-2009, 09:09 AM
Strumming Fool Strumming Fool is offline
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Just thought you'd like to know that there is another side to this discussion. The main point here is that it is mostly subjective. While the accepted theory is that bridge pins cannot make as much of difference in tone as the saddle, I have found that they can, based upon their composition, the saddle used and the guitar itself. Some of my guitars have bone saddles and some have Tusq saddles, because one sounds better than the other on each guitar. In a couple of past instances, the installation of a bone saddle made absolutely no difference. However, ALL my guitars now have buffalo horn bridge pins, because I've found that these particular pins (yes, I've tried the others) have added an audible presence and brilliance to each of my guitars. YMMV....
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Old 09-11-2009, 01:13 PM
M.D.Smith M.D.Smith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Troisnoir View Post
I've posted this on another forum, then realized I should probably post it here...

I have a Taylor GS8 that I've changed the Tusq nut and saddle on to bone. Great improvement!

Is it worth going to bone bridge pins? I can see the saddle and nut, that was just Tusq, but my guitar has quality rosewood pins already, not plastic. Other than personal preferences of course, would bone be substantially better than the rosewood?

In case it's a matter of preference, what would the tonal change be?

Plastic is just yuck!
I've changed out all three of my Taylors from the ebony (wood) pins to:
1. Buffalo horn
2. Brass
3. Follisized Walrus tusk.

Haven't noticed a sound difference. I believe the brass has added a wee bit more sustain, not scientific though but it seems that way.

Major difference for me is looks.

The walrus pins, I believe look very nice on my new Jumbo.



Here's a couple of picks of the brass pins.




And the buffalo pins are black with MOP dots and look very much like the ebony pins from Taylor.
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  #9  
Old 12-08-2009, 11:40 PM
NitroX NitroX is offline
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[QUOTE=M.D.Smith;1955681]Plastic is just yuck!
I've changed out all three of my Taylors from the ebony (wood) pins to:
1. Buffalo horn
2. Brass
3. Follisized Walrus tusk.

Haven't noticed a sound difference. I believe the brass has added a wee bit more sustain, not scientific though but it seems that way.

Major difference for me is looks.

--
Do you still have the brass pins in your Taylor? I have that same set but they are on my Fender acoustic. I was wondering if you still like them in the Taylor and if they fit OK or if they are loose and a pain to keep them in.
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Old 12-08-2009, 11:44 PM
chistrummer chistrummer is offline
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It's fun to experiment but I certainly can't hear any difference...
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Old 12-09-2009, 05:52 AM
dgrolem dgrolem is offline
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Just changed a set from plastic to ivory. The only reason for the ivory (and their large $$$ investment) was that it was the only thing the dealer had that was low profile. Original pins were very tall. A/B them and there is no sound difference. Pretty though.
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Old 12-09-2009, 08:03 AM
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I think it's personal taste. I have a Martin that I tried various pins in, from the original plastic to bone, to ebony to Tusq. I decided I liked the Tusq better. The difference between one pin to the other was small, but certain things about the treble notes just seemed better to me with the Tusq. Maybe they just fit better.

No, I didn't change strings each time, but loosened the strings enough to refit different pins. I did this over 2 days. Yes, I played the guitar in the same room every time to hear it as closely as possible to being under certain conditions.

That's about as scientific as I get, shy of asking for the salt and pepper at the table.

The biggest difference I think I ever heard from a set of bridge pins has to be with my Taylor Baby. I had a set of basswood pins and stuck them in it. I swear, that guitar seemed to mellow out and sound more like a full size guitar with those pins in it.
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Old 04-30-2010, 08:25 AM
bbshriver bbshriver is offline
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Sorry to dredge up an old thread but what brass pins are those? They look good. My brother put brass pins in his Fender but the diameter is too large and they stick out a lot. Yours seem to fit well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by M.D.Smith View Post
Plastic is just yuck!
I've changed out all three of my Taylors from the ebony (wood) pins to:
1. Buffalo horn
2. Brass
3. Follisized Walrus tusk.

Haven't noticed a sound difference. I believe the brass has added a wee bit more sustain, not scientific though but it seems that way.

Major difference for me is looks.

The walrus pins, I believe look very nice on my new Jumbo.



Here's a couple of picks of the brass pins.




And the buffalo pins are black with MOP dots and look very much like the ebony pins from Taylor.
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  #14  
Old 06-02-2020, 08:36 PM
aussiebobbear aussiebobbear is offline
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Default I beg to differ

This is an old forum, however. I was looking for opinions.

Most here, say changing bridge pins don't do anything to their guitars or experience. Personally I have a very different experience.

1. I would ALWAYS get rid of plastic, everywhere on my guitars. ie, saddle , nut and pins. Agreed, they are tone robbers.

2. Saddles. Tusq or bone.. Tusq is great if you've got an under saddle pickup. Tusq is very predictable as it's a man made material. Bone on the other hand can vary a lot in density and tone. Cow bone sounds different to camel bone. Camel bone is extremely dense and is much brighter in sound than cattle bone. Cattle bone seems to have more warmth and a bit more bottom end, and less brittle in sound. This goes for saddles and bridge pins.

3. Bridge pins. Brass, bone, ebony , rosewood . This is where my questions come in, mainly around ebony v rosewood bridge pins. Bridge pins can make a lot of difference to the feel and sound of an instrument, as do different brands and types of strings.

I have an old Maton CW80 1991 model. Is a fabulous guitar. I used EZpegs, brass bridge pins for years. For years people commented on how fantastic the instrument sounded. It had huge bass and treble, but really lacked warmth, woodiness and growl to its midrange tone. I played a couple of nearly identical guitars and they all have a type of vintage sound that mine was lacking. Eventually I went back to bone bridge pins and it radically changed my experience of the guitar. All of a sudden the midrange was just jumping out of the guitar and it was really alive, organic and really woody in tone. However, i lost a lot of sustain. The brass had really added a huge amount of sustain. So now it's a matter of finding all the right combination of strings and bridge pins. Elixirs will give sustain but take away from the woodiness i'm looking for.

Often on guitars with Adirondack, I find that bone bridge pins can just be over the top when the strings are new. The guitar can be too bright and harsh, but putting ebony pins on, it tames the guitar immediately. As the strings get old I will put back on cattle bone pins to bring life back into the guitar. Usually there's a sweet spot / time when the strings have tamed, I will then use bone pins till the strings die.

So from my experience, the bridge pins can change the way the guitar vibrates, feels and sounds. It can be subtle but i've never met a guitar that doesn't react with changes in either bridge pins or string type. As suggested, even the different types of animal bone sound and feel different, giving different tonal and vibrational changes to the instrument. Some people may hear and feel it, some may not. I'm personally VERY in tune with minor subtle changes. I also play piano and bass and have worked with hifi and audio reproduction for over 50 years. I'm the guy who clearly notices the subtle changes when one changes cables in a hifi system. A lot of it is about how it changes the feel of the music. That's a whole other discussion as many say cables is cables.. ie.. they're all the same... not to me.
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  #15  
Old 06-02-2020, 09:06 PM
alnico5 alnico5 is offline
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My guitar does not have bridge pins. I am missing out on all the agonizing decisions to be made.
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