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Old 09-08-2011, 06:51 AM
DrBromiAndufEwd DrBromiAndufEwd is offline
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Default How should bridge pins fit?

I guess call me ignorant...but, how should bridge pins fit? Should they seat all the way down? I never really payed attention, but the guitars i've owned the pins never seat all the way and they're never all at the same height...ive just recently noticed looking at a lot of guitars in the classifieds that it seems like most are very even. (unlike mine)

Do my pins just not fit right? Am i putting the strings on improperly? What SHOULD they look like?

Please cure my ignorance!
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Old 09-08-2011, 07:17 AM
Joe M Joe M is offline
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I think it depends on the guitar. Of the 5 acoustics I own, the pins on my Taylor, Gibson and 2 of my Martins are seated all the way down. On my HD28V, the pins are not all the way down. At first, the pins on the HD28V bothered me and I was ready to sand them down so they would seat better, but I decided to leave well enough alone and they don't bother me any more. Oh, mine are all evenly seated, even on the HD28V.
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Old 09-08-2011, 07:20 AM
Slim Slim is offline
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Hey Dr.

It usually takes a little work to get the pins to sit flush.

My Martins have all come with pins that are uneven. I had a Taylor 614ce with pins that would sit flush but I bought it used so the previous owner may have adjusted them.

Some folks sand the pins and some prefer to ream the holes (carefully! 1/2 turn at a time). I just live with them being at various heights.

Tim
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Old 09-08-2011, 07:28 AM
redir redir is offline
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Whatever you do don't push them hard in to seat them, this can crack a bridge.

On high end guitars the bridge pin should seat all the way down and be held in by the friction of the hole only. Typically a key hole slot is cut in the hole to allow the string to ramp up out of the hole to the saddle and the ball end of the string will sit tightly to the bridge plate on the inside of the guitar. You don't need fluted pins with key holes. You should actually be able to remove the bridge pin while the string is under tension and it won't snap out because it's well seated.

This can be done to most guitars even cheap ones with a keyhole saw and some files. You probably don't have access to a reamer but what you can do is find a 10in (or so) ******* file. Look at the file handle end and size it up to the taper on your bridge pin. If it's close then you can use that to ream out the holes. Do it carefully and slowly checking all the time to see if the pin seats well and is held in by friction.

String up and repeat if necessary.
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Old 09-08-2011, 07:42 AM
DrBromiAndufEwd DrBromiAndufEwd is offline
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Cool. Thanks for the advice. So basically its not WRONG that they aren't seated all the way or evenly...but probably the ones i see that are have been adjusted purposely to be that way.

I may adjust the pins a bit to fit the wholes a little better. A new 20 dollar set of ebony pins is way cheaper than a new bridge... I'm not so concerned they seat all the way, but i would like it if they fit a little more evenly.
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Old 09-08-2011, 10:27 AM
Howard Klepper Howard Klepper is offline
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Every pin should seat snugly down to its collar with no string in the hole, and do the same with the string in place. This requires a hole with the correct size and taper, and also a notch for the string that varies with the string's gauge. Anything else is wrong. Martin in particular has embarrassed itself for many years now by not tapering the bridge (or endpin) holes to match the pins.
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Old 09-08-2011, 10:36 AM
murrmac123 murrmac123 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
You probably don't have access to a reamer but what you can do is find a 10in (or so) ******* file. .
LOL, the forum software doesn't have any discretionary ability, does it ?

For anybody wondering, the asterisked word begins with a B and ends with a D and is a perfectly legitimate and accepted description of that type of file.
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Old 09-08-2011, 10:36 AM
Misty44 Misty44 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
Typically a key hole slot is cut in the hole to allow the string to ramp up out of the hole to the saddle and the ball end of the string will sit tightly to the bridge plate on the inside of the guitar. You don't need fluted pins with key holes.
This can be done to most guitars even cheap ones with a keyhole saw and some files. You probably don't have access to a reamer but what you can do is find a 10in (or so) ******* file. Look at the file handle end and size it up to the taper on your bridge pin. If it's close then you can use that to ream out the holes. Do it carefully and slowly checking all the time to see if the pin seats well and is held in by friction.
Just trying to clarify here: I think there are two procedures mentioned, one is "slotting" - what you refer to as a "key hole slot" and the other is "ramping," which is the "ramp up out of the hole to the saddle" reference?

Again, just to clarify, ramping is a shallow horizontal slot running away from the top of the hole toward the bridge. It is designed to help increase the "break angle" of the string over the saddle. Ramping is not designed to help seat pins.



Typically, most guitars - and certainly new or late model ones - should not need to be ramped: they either all ready are or are built not to be. Their break angles should be just fine.

The procedure to seat pins is called "reaming" (or one can buy a set of smaller pins). Reaming is best done with a fluted reamer of the desired taper (usually 5-degrees for Martins - or 3-degrees for some other brands). If you do decide to ream the holes, use the proper type of reamer, or have a tech do it for you. Takes about five minutes.

I think the "fluted pins" you reference are usually referred to as "slotted" as opposed to "unslotted." Slotted pins are used when the bridge pin holes have not been slotted. If they have, then one can use unslotted pins, or turn slotted pins around. Bridge pin-hole slots are vertical grooves through the bridge, top, and plate, whereas ramps are horizontal.



Slotting the bridge is done to help prevent possible future damage to the bridge plate and to help prevent pins from bending or chipping.




(photo by David Collins)

Personally, I like my pins to sit on their collars as designed. The bridge looks neater, the pins shafts are all the way down helping to keep the string balls from working their way up the holes, and they don't bother me when I palm mute my strings.

Last edited by Misty44; 09-08-2011 at 10:42 AM.
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Old 09-08-2011, 11:51 AM
redir redir is offline
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A picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

And yes it's a b-a-s-t-a-r-d file
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