Pinless bridge - good, bad, or indifferent?

[LAPlayer]

I play pinned and pinless guitars, I can't tell any difference. However, the only way to say what, or how much, difference there actually is would be to be able to have two identical guitars - except for bridge - for a direct A/B comparison. I don't believe anyone who's ever heard or played a Lowden guitar would doubt the performance of pinless-bridged guitars.

[Alan Carruth]

It is my opinion that it's impossible to deliberately make two 'identical' guitars that will sound the same in blind tests. I've tried, repeatedly, with ever stricter quality controls. The issue is that no two pieces of wood, even sister cuts from the same plank, will be the same. Small differences add up, especially in the range from 2000-4000 Hz, where hearing is most acute. Also, in that range, the resonant structure of the guitar is so complicated that is becomes essentially chaotic: the builder has no direct control over the pitches of the resonances, and people pick those up. Confidently attributing any change in timbre to a given variable is unreasonable. You might get someplace with a large enough sample with good QC, but it would take a lot of effort, and nobody has the incentive to spend that much money.

[noledog]

Originally Posted by s11141827

Pinless bridge Guitars would need a tailpiece to keep them from ripping off, this is the same idea as a Spanish Laud.

100% false... having owned and performed with both Lowden and MIJ Taks with pinless bridges for years, I've never encountered any issue. I still perform over 200 shows a year in tropical environments (ie high humidity) with three rotating MIJ Taks, no issues. My '97 Lowden which I bought new, which my son has now, has no sign of any issues with bridge lifting/separation.
I have several fellow musicians playing the same circuit up and down the Florida coast like me who use MIJ Taks with pinless bridges as well with zero issues.