Bridges; Ebony or Rosewood?

[JDaniel]

It's time to make a decision about the bridge to place on my guitar. I've made one in ebony, but am now unsure if that would be the right way to go. Br Rosewood is my safe option, but I like the ebony look. I'm interested in your opinion. -d.

[fazool]

from a specification standpoint, ebony is much harder than rosewood. This suggests that ebony will dampen less of the string energy - especially higher frequency vibrations.

This effect may be barely perceptible in tone but there is some actual science behind this (I used to design vibration dampers).

But aesthetics is another thing to consider - I prefer my bridge to match my fingerboard, so there's that to think about too.

[Carey]

Ebony is seldom used for classical bridges- for one thing it's usually too heavy, and it typically has higher damping than, say, Brazilian Rosewood. Segovia's favorite Hauser
guitar, from 1937, has an East Indian Rosewood bridge, fwtw. 20 grams max is a figure
commonly cited for CG bridges, but of course YMMV.

[rick-slo]

Sound wise I would go with rosewood.

[redir]

Best sounding classical guitar I ever made had an ebony bridge. Rosewood is almost exclusively used on high end classical guitars though becasue it's lighter in weight.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by redir

Best sounding classical guitar I ever made had an ebony bridge. Rosewood is almost exclusively used on high end classical guitars though becasue it's lighter in weight.

Undoubtedly the standard is rosewood because in most cases it sounds better.

[LAPlayer]

I prefer mine to match the fretboard. What is your fretboard?

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by LAPlayer

I prefer mine to match the fretboard. What is your fretboard?

All my guitars have a ebony fretboards. The steel string flattops have ebony bridges and my classical a rosewood one.

[JDaniel]

Thanks, all, for the responses. The guitar I am finishing has an ebony fingerboard and a spruce top with interesting patterned rosewood elsewhere. My daily player classical, which I made 50 years ago, has a br. rosewood bridge on a cedar top and although it shows decades of wear the sound quality is very good. I just don't want to ruin the new one at the finish line, in the final stage of its making.

[nikpearson]

Indian or Brazilian rosewood will usually have less damping than an equivalent ebony bridge. Bridge weight can be critical in getting a guitar to sound good; if you want evidence of that try adding mass to your guitar’s bridge.

Too heavy (or too light) can result in a less than stellar sound. I typically aim for a bridge weight between 15 and 20 grams, that’s without the saddle. This would be difficult to achieve with most ebonies due to their density.

Interestingly, several years ago I was involved in a group guitar build using non-tropical woods. The instrument was built over 5 days and sounded really disappointing. The bridge was walnut and extremely light. Adding a little mass transformed the instrument into something quite nice.

[FingahPickah]

Back in the late 80's my '73 Guild D44M had developed a crack at the end of the saddle slot. That model came stock with a rosewood bridge paired with an ebony fretboard.

I brought it to the Guild factory in Westerly, R.I. to have the bridge replaced. In those days, Guild accepted repairs (even non-warranty) by appointment.

I remember asking the repair tech if replacing it with ebony would change the sound. He said, "in my experience, I say no, although my dog might disagree".

I went for the ebony, my own dog never said anything, and I agreed.

Many years later, I noticed my son's Martin M36 specs a rosewood bridge/ebony fretboard. Sounds great... and I still miss that dog.

[evanpyle]

Nylon strings generate considerably less energy than steel. That is why you'll not see a fine classical with an ebony bridge. Too dense, too heavy for nylon strings to effectively activate.

Go for looks and likely suffer dead sound.

[JDaniel]

Thanks all, again, for the feedback. Brazilian Rosewood it is. The ebony bridge will make a nice paperweight.