bridge pin q

[bfloyd6969]

Hello everyone. I don't know if this is normal or not, but could you all look at these pics and tell me why the low E and A string bridge pins sit higher than the rest. I tried to capture the best photos I could. You can see that the D, G, B, and high E string pins all sit down at the same height, but not the low E and A. Strings being used are regular lights .012 ~ .053 (.053 and .042 for the pins in question). I've been looking at many other guitar pictures and from what I have seen all the pins sit all the way down and even across the bridge. Anyone? Thanks.

[dekutree64]

Well, the E string definitely needs a larger notch in the bridge, since the pin head is in contact with the string and the string has nowhere to go down out of the way.

The A string is more confusing though... what is it snagging on? Does the pin fully seat if there's no string? Does the taper of the pins match that of the holes? Maybe the slot in the pin isn't quite big enough for the string to fit through, so the bridge needs a half-round slot filed the whole depth.

What's the history on the guitar? Could be that the original builder slotted his pins all the way up through the head, and a previous owner replaced them with standard slotted pins.

[bfloyd6969]

Thanks for looking and the reply dekutree64. The guitar is an Asian import Carolina II JO-26. I understand and now see what you mean about the low E string. It doesn't seem to fit all the way into the bridge slot. The A string is fully seated under the bridge plate, and all pins do sit flush to the bridge when no string is there. I remember while stringing last time that the pins start out sitting all the way down to the bridge, but when I bring it up to pitch the pins creep up that little bit, even when I am holding them down to prevent it from doing so. Perhaps the A string slot is also a little on the small side and could be slotted a bit more. I'll take it in to a luthier to have them slotted correctly.

[dekutree64]

Originally Posted by bfloyd6969

I remember while stringing last time that the pins start out sitting all the way down to the bridge, but when I bring it up to pitch the pins creep up that little bit, even when I am holding them down to prevent it from doing so.

Oh really? Even the E can fully seat with a string before putting tension on it? That sounds like a different problem then... more likely mismatched taper. Try some 3 degree pins on it and see if it does better. If you don't have any, just take it up to a guitar store. They should have plenty lying around to test and find out if that's the problem.

Also could be the holes are just too large (sloppy craftsmanship on the part of the maker), which would be much more trouble to fix. If that's the case, then maybe you could find some oversize pins. Although then you might need to ream the holes a little larger still. Probably cheaper to have someone do that than to buy the reamer to do it yourself.

EDIT: Oh, and Oracle's comment on making sure it's properly seated is a good point. It could still be too-small holes for the extra wrapping just before the ball end, making it difficult to get them seated. Another test you could run is to loosen all the strings until you can get your arm inside the guitar, and feel for the strings in there. Make sure the pins are all pushed down, and feel for if the ball ends are still wedged firmly against the top. Sometimes you can get them squeezed in there properly by holding the ball end in place with your arm through the sound hole, while you push the pin down. But enlarging the slots a bit would be the proper solution.

[Oracle]

Take the tension off the low E string. Pull the pin and string out. Make sure the end of the string has a inward bend at about one inch from the ball end. Insert the string so that the bend is pointed towards the headstock. Insert the bridge pin, and at the same time, gently put tension on the string. The string should lock in the pin once in tension and is tuned to pitch.

Mike

[bfloyd6969]

Thanks guys, I'll give that little trick a try before taking it in.