Pinless bridges

[steelvibe]

I've heard mixed reviews here but I've certainly seen a lot of guitars without pins on the CF forum, mostly Emeralds but also noticed a Sable in the classifieds without pins. Why is that better? Does it help with tone? Easier to string on guitars with offset soundholes?

[Aspiring]

I have several pinless Breedloves and had a pinless Ovation and then pinless electrics. Generaly i prefer the pinless for string changes although you need to take care not to scratch when running the strings through the holes in the bridge.

I havent noticed any differences in sound quality that I could attribute to the pins.

I have become more proficient with pinned changes so now i would say it no longer is a deal breaker for me either way. I picked up the tip on the forum of reaching inside the soundhole and pushing up on the pin from below while removing.

My cats definitely prefer the pinned bridges though. The brigde pins make great cat toys.

[GuitarLuva]

Steel,

Can't say pins vs pinless is better or worse just another personal preference for some. Pinless bridges are generally easier for palm muting and other techniques. I bet any tonal differences would be subtle in most cases and not noticeable by human ears.

[byudzai]

I was die-hard for pinless bridges for a while. Now I don't care as much. A guitar teacher steered me away from the palm-on-the-bridge technique I was fond of. I do have a little 3D printed gizmo I'll put beneath the bridge if I want it to be pinless, so that's another reason I prefer a standard bridge rather than one with a bunch of slots cut in it. On top of all of that, my PB from emerald doesn't hold well, I kept getting strings popping out. Maybe I was using wrong, dunno.