How many of you actually notice the bridgepins and tuners on other people's guitars?

[ac2300]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

That’s because they look like shiny metallic windshield wipers....


whm

No they dont, they look like pinball machine flippers.....

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by ac2300

No they dont, they look like pinball machine flippers.....

That too!

You know, you should consider making a special edition of the power pins especially for Gibson SJ-200’s, with ends that curl like a handlebar mustache to go with the SJ-200’s mustache bridge. You could make the three pins on the treble side curve to the right, and the three pins on the bass side curve to the left.

You could also probably sell a lot of them to fans of Yosemite Sam...


Wade Hampton Miller

[ac2300]

I just sent a telex to china, they are working on the 3d cads right now, should have digital printed parts on the way here on the next fedex flight out of Koomwram province. Thanks for the great idea, i just got a PM from Gibson, very excited about it, what kind of royalties are we talking about Wade?

[Wade Hampton]

Well, naturally I think 50/50 is fair, but seeing as you have all prototyping costs and advertising stuff to cover, I’d settle for 40/60 with you getting the lion’s share.

Yes, it’s noble of me, I know.


whm

[Brucebubs]

I'm ordering a set of these pins.



To go with these tuners.



Just to see if anyone notices them on my Huss & Dalton.

[AcousticDreams]

Because of those pictures, I am going to have Acoustic Guitar Nightmares!

[Wade Hampton]

Good call, Bruce. Just like you, those pins and tuners are tasteful, elegant and self-assured in an understated but decidedly masculine way. If they needed to be described in one phrase, I think “quietly charismatic” would say it best.


whm

[ac2300]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Well, naturally I think 50/50 is fair, but seeing as you have all prototyping costs and advertising stuff to cover, I’d settle for 40/60 with you getting the lion’s share.

Yes, it’s noble of me, I know.


whm

Yes it is quite noble of you!!! im impressed, now i have a different feeling about this forum....

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

I'm wondering how tough it would be to have all the faces pointing up AND have the guitar in tune.

[619TF]

Originally Posted by zmf

I'm wondering how tough it would be to have all the faces pointing up AND have the guitar in tune.

Not very if you plan it right. I have a friend and ALL his guitars look like that (well, non-skull tuners but all facing the same way) when he tunes up. He's shown me how to make it happen but sometimes I'd mess it up and have to restring one or two so I don't bother anymore.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by zmf

I'm wondering how tough it would be to have all the faces pointing up AND have the guitar in tune.

Well, it’s pretty obvious that SOMEBODY doesn’t have his priorities straight!

Actually, that hadn’t occurred to me until you mentioned it just now. But you’re completely correct - a perfect lineup like that probably would never occur if you got the strings in tune.

There are a couple of books of musical instrument collections that are semi-famous in collector circles: the Tsumura banjo book and the Tsumura guitar book. Both are filled with exquisite full color photos of an immense collection of instruments: mostly four string banjos in the banjo book, archtop guitars in the guitar book.

In the guitar book, every single guitar has its tuners perfectly aligned so that the tuner buttons all show at the same angle. I understood the visual reasons for aligning them, but - irrationally - that just irked me. I knew perfectly well that every guitar shown in that book was either slightly out of tune, or WAY out of tune. I wanted to reach into each photo and tune every guitar!

Oh, well....


whm

Edit: I just read 619TF’s post. I didn’t realize it was even possible to get six strings strung and in tune with the tuner buttons all aligned in the same direction. But I guess if it’s possible to solve a Rubik’s Cube perfectly aligned with just a few turns, it’s mathematically possible to do that with tuner buttons.

Math was never one of my better subjects....

[gmel555]

As you say Wade, when someone else's guitar is in my hands I take notice of these things. When I'm watching a performance, live, video, etc. I always take notice of the guitar maker and model (if I can figure the latter out), but no, I don't pay much -if any- attention to the tuners and not at all to the pins.

[Wade Hampton]

Yeah, me neither.


whm

[Earl49]

I don't pay much attention to the pins or tuners on MY GUITAR, unless and until they malfunction. The only times I've switched out pins were when they broke or one got lost, but in one case I took out a set of white plastic and replaced them with ebony w/ abalone dots - just for aesthetics. Ebony pins somehow looked better to me on the ebony bridge of that guitar. And I've never replaced tuner buttons, but sometimes that looks really cool.

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Lee is correct: Martin Carthy quite methodically developed a bridge pin set made up of different materials for different strings. I forget exactly which pin is which, but I think the two lowest strings have pins made of cow horn.

That's what I've been saying all along. I've never advocated changing bridge pins willy-nilly but developing an understanding of what each of the materials do sonically, analyzing how each string contributes to the overall sound, then using pins selectively to adjust the sonic output of your guitar to your specific taste. I've found that in general, changing an entire set of bridge pins doesn't often provide the same satisfaction as specific and selective pin assignments. When you change an entire set of pins the relationship from string to string remains the same, so any qualities you have with one set transfers to the next, with obviously some change, but often quite nuanced- and impercetible to many.

I've just taken my Martin D35 out of hibernation (from home remodeling) and at first strum it was like "whoa"... Got to playing and digging the sound. Nice beefy bass- but not boomy. As I put the guitar up I noticed that I had 5 bone pins and on buffalo horn pin in the 6th string. I really hadn't remembered doing any pin swapping on the D35 and obviously was an experiment that I'd forgotten about. I was surprised that I'd done a pin swap but not surprised that I really liked the sound. I love the blend and what that low E does for the harmonics, making them thick and rich, but not overpowering [like some (ahem...)"new" guitar models].

Then I looked at my Taylor 814ceDLX-x and realized that I had gone back to Elixir strings, all ebony pins... except for that low E. Again the piano like quality of the buffalo pin in the low E just does something special. And even though I've tested multiple combinations of pins (and had subtle to radical changes in tone) just that one pin seems to work for me with the right strings (D35 likes Sunbeams or D'Addario NB's).

I guess the bottom line is: Pins are like medicine. Sometimes just a drop can cure while two drops can kill.