Pinless bridge - good, bad, or indifferent?

[lmacmil]

I can see where a pinless bridge might simplify manufacturing. Is there any tonal advantage or disadvantage? Does a pinless bridge need a bridge plate?

[SixStingString]

I love mine. Only benefits thus far. Cant see me ever messing with bridge pins ever again.

[AndyFrank]

I would be interested to hear the answer to this. I always wondered why we use bridges with pins. Maybe some of the forum luthiers will chime in.

[murrmac123]

Intuitively, my gut reaction is that it would need an even more substantial bridge plate than a normal pinned bridge, since the torque is greater.

However, I am never likely to own a guitar with a pinless bridge so feel free to disregard ...

[Wade Hampton]

Pinless bridges work fine, but anecdotal evidence that my repairman and others have told me does seem to indicate that they are a slight bit more likely to pull up than pinned bridges. I know that the only two guitars I've ever owned that had the bridges start to separate at the glue joint to the top were pinless.

One other downside to pinless bridges is that it's easier to scar up the top right at the bridge with the metal ball ends of the strings, particularly if the top is a softer wood like cedar. My little Tacoma Papoose, which has both a pinless bridge and a cedar top, looks a little chewed up where the ball ends have marred it.

But if you're careful about that (as I've learned to be) and you keep an eye on them to make sure that there's nothing pulling up, pinless bridges are a perfectly good alternative bridge design.

Short version: they have some slight disadvantages, but nothing that can't be overcome. Plus you never have to worry about losing a bridge pin!

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[LukeW]

From a gigging standpoint, I could see it being easier to change a string on stage.

[SixStingString]

Quicker to change strings by an exponential factor. My guitar has a truss system which counter balances the pull of the bridge much more so than any pinned bridge. It can also be adjusted. As a result of the counter balancing forces the soundboard sounds fantastic. Dont know why, dont really care other than it does.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by LukeW

From a gigging standpoint, I could see it being easier to change a string on stage.

Actually, I haven't found that to be the case. You would think you'd gain time by using a pinless bridge, but having used both pinned and pinless bridge designs onstage I've found that having to angle the string just so to thread it through a pinless bridge eats up more time than fumbling around with a bridge pin does.

Granted, it doesn't take up as much time as those nightmarish instances when a bridge pin gets dropped on a stage and goes gleefully bouncing off somewhere out of sight. But if the pin stays within reach, changing strings on pinned bridges is faster.

At least it has been the times I've had to do that.


whm

[wthurman]

They're fine. I don't find them less fussy in immediate situations like gigs. Strings don't like to curve the right way, so it's about 50/50. Also, you don't have "cheats" on cheaper guitars to increase string ramp. No problem with them, but given the choice, I'd go with pins. Once you understand that pins aren't a matter of loose/tight but of tension, they're pretty easy. Now slotted headstocks... a totally different issue.

[Ed422]

IMO (and consider the source), a well executed pinless bridge is just that... a well executed bridge. It doesn't matter if it is pin or pinless.

Ed

[michaeljohnr]

I owned a Taylor 410 with a pinless bridge.

NEVER had a problem.

[Simon Fay]

When I first started building I used a pinless bridge. Structurally, they are both fine. The bridge plate does wear on a pinned bridge but the actual bridge also wears on a pinless bridge (at least for most pinless designs). Tonally, I don't think there is a difference and if the instrument is assembled correctly, the bridge shouldn't come off with either design.

The reality is that most folks find pinned bridges easier. I absolutely find removing strings on a pinless bridge harder and more time consuming since you need to cut the strings to remove them. It takes me less time to string up a pinned bridge. Furthermore, it is incredibly easy for the soundboard behind the bridge to get dinged with a pinless design. In other words, I only see negatives and no positives to a pinless bridge and I see several advantages to a pinned design. Ultimately, it does come down to personal preference but my preference is without a doubt, a pinned bridge.

[ac319]

I think pinless bridges work fine, my Harmony h1203 has one. However I do think a pinned bridge looks better.

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by Simon Fay

.

I absolutely find removing strings on a pinless bridge harder and more time consuming since you need to cut the strings to remove them. It takes me less time to string up a pinned bridge. In other words, I only see negatives and no positives to a pinless bridge and I see several advantages to a pinned design. Ultimately, it does come down to personal preference but my preference is without a doubt, a pinned bridge.

total agreement.......one big drawback for me with pinless is when you are trying to dial in your setup and taking the saddle down. There's no way to get it out unless you completely remove the string from the tuner. I also dislike sliding a fresh set of strings through the hole....it certainly can't be good for the wound strings especially.

[buddiesorg]

I have both types of bridges, and I'm fairly neutral about both ... until a couple days ago. I snapped a string on one of my pinless bridge guitars, and the ball end came out about 3 inches. No damage was done, but it probably could have caused a ding or scratch. Maybe it snapped in just the right (or wrong) way since I've never seen the ball end come out of the bridge before, but I never even thought about that happening. I'm very careful when restringing ... and that does mean I usually take more time on pinless bridges than pinned.