Tusq Bridge Pin Question

[SCVJ]

A year ago I bought a set of ebony pins for a guitar I had. All six were a little too big. Instead of returning them and trying to buy another set I decided to sand them down. Well, because they were fiddly little things, and round, and couldn't be attacked with a belt sander (my usual favorite method of sanding, lol), I spent forever sanding them enough to fit. And my fingers were sore for days. Not an experience I would like to repeat, obviously.

I just bought an inexpensive guitar that had plastic BP's. I had a spare set of Tusq BPs, and all fit perfectly except the 6th string, which was pretty far from a fit. I don't want to buy more pins, but I don't mind sanding down only the one pin IF the Tusq material is reasonably sandable. It seems awfully hard.

Has anyone tried sanding this stuff? The pins are black, BTW, if that matters.

Thanks!

[Gcunplugged]

Yes, you can sand Tusq. I have done it multiple times, but only on saddles. I have never tried to sand a bridge pin because I’ve never had the need.

It would seem to me that the hole is too small and you would have the same problem with any set of pins. Have you considered reaming the hole instead of sanding the pin?

Hope that helps,
Gary

[SCVJ]

Reaming the hole is probably the right thing to do. The original plastic pins all fit well except for the 6th string hole (as with the Tusqs), so it seems the hole IS too small. This is a really cheap guitar that I bought to learn to play slide with. I changed the strings to mediums, which just made the problem worse with the fatter 6th string. The other five fit snugly, but they are fully seated.

Reaming is not an option for me, for several reasons. I have another smaller plastic pin that works, but isn't a match. I could just use it, but like to have things just so, I guess.

Gary, would you say the tusq saddles sanded similarly to a hard wood like ebony, or was it more difficult? I realize this issue probably wasn't on your mind when you were doing it.

Anyone else?

[Gcunplugged]

I haven’t done it enough times to have a definitive answer, but I’d say sanding Tusq is slightly easier than sanding bone.

HTH!
Gary

[12barBill]

I have never done it with a power tool. I just use those sandpaper finger nail file things. That has always worked fine.

[AcousticDreams]

I have reworked hundreds of bridge pins. I love to experiment.

One of the easiest methods is to simply put the round head of the bridge pin into a cordless drill. Wrap some sandpaper around the tapered end, and move the sandpaper gently up and down the shaft while it spins.

It does take a little time to align the round head properly into the Bit. You must make sure that the bridge pin's string slot is not facing one of the three metal guides inside the drill chuck, so that the bridge pin spins true. You may have to adjust it a couple of times. You should get a more even sanding as compared to the above posted video method.

[SCVJ]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to try the electric drill idea.