Bridge plate / String ball ends

[Wooly]

I've read how string ball ends can eventually dig into and damage the bridge plate after time. In fact, my old Ibanez I bought used has this issue. I am going to give a Platemate a try.

If one was to give the string ends a bit of a bend and make sure they were seated up against the plate before bringing up to tension, could this condition be prevented or is it going to happen sooner or later anyway?

[ChrisN]

Look at the general discussion section of the board for the thread "look ma no bridge pins" - helpful info there.

Apart from the OP's or murrmac123's suggestions in that thread (also check murrmac123's link to his old ebay product for more info), the best approach is "slot" the bridge to allow the ball to sit firmly flat and straight (not cocked) against the bridge plate (I check w/mirror before tensioning) and turn pins so slotted part of pin is 45 degrees to the bridge slot. Caution - some guitars have the pinhole so close to the saddle that slotting the bridge creates a too-steep string angle, with resulting excess pressure on the saddle - if that's your situation, then Kimsey says to partially slot the bridge for the E and A strings, and thin the pin a bit in one place to allow the string some room outside the partial bridge slot.

I respect the concept of the platemate and know others have used it successfully, but I tried it in a Taylor GC and pulled it out when I heard what it did to the tone/volume - for me, it was dramatic, though others have heard no change, or even improvement. I had bought 2 and Stewmac took them both back, no questions. Point = try it yourself and see. You may like it just fine, and you can always send it back (to Stewmac, anyway) if you don't.

And to answer your question - seating the ball as you describe can't happen with an unslotted bridge and with a slotted bridgepin with the slot applied against the string (the only way to install the string) - the ball will always be held at a crazy angle and dig into the plate and chew it up.

[redir]

As mentioned the best approach is to slot the holes but non the less I always bend the string too. Seems like a good idea to me.

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by redir

As mentioned the best approach is to slot the holes but non the less I always bend the string too. Seems like a good idea to me.

I've done that for a long time as well, does help greatly.

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One reason I like to slot the bridge/bridge plate is not that I believe the ball end chews up the bridge plate, but the loops just past it. When I pre-bend the ball end, that loop just sits in the string slot (the ball end sits parallel to the direction of the string.) If it is turned, then those loops seem to be the ones digging into the bridge plate, which in turn causes the ball ends themselves to dig in. On the high strings they're almost like razor blades against the bridge plate.

Also, I don't slot the bridge to the string diameter, but rather to the diameter of the twisted part right after the ball end, which is considerably thicker than the string itself.