Emerald Pin-less bridge restringing

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by boneuphtoner

I still can’t figure out how they managed to keep tension on the string the whole time, while trimming/winding the string.

I saw a video by Byudzai where he effortlessly changes strings on a pinless X-20 or X-30. After experiencing the difficulties of string changing, I am now more impressed with his coordination.

[guitarwebguy]

Originally Posted by boneuphtoner

I hear you - I did my first string change earlier this week and IÂ’ll bet I spent over 2.5 hours (after the first hour of getting no where, I put it away for the night in total frustration). But I did get it done, but one of the things that really bugged me is I kept having to insert one hand in the sound hole to guide it in the slot. I was amazed when I saw this video how they just locked it without any of that stuff.

So today, after using my usual Martin PB strings for 3 days, I decided that there seemed to be a little more presence in the trebles with the stock strings, which were EXP19s (medium bass, light trebles). I had an extra set of light strings around, so I took the treble strings and installed them on the X30 - essentially turning it back into the stock Bluegrass gauge strings, although a Martin one and not DÂ’Addario. I swore I was not going to make this harder that it needed to be and I would try using their technique of letting it catch in the groove on the outside instead of sticking my hand in the sound hole to do it. And I did it - IÂ’m not 100% proficient yet, as both the E and B strings had the ball end come out one time each when I removed the bridge pin after I started winding up. You have to really pull hard as you insert the temporary bridge pin. The G string was installed with no hiccups. The good news, even with the hiccups, is that I did this all in 15 minutes. At that rate, to install 6 strings, that would take 30 minutes - which is well over double the time it normally takes me, but significantly better than before.

You will get better with practice! Earlier in the week I did attempt to install a string without the bridge pin/tee trick like they showed in the video - I still canÂ’t figure out how they managed to keep tension on the string the whole time, while trimming/winding the string. If I can prevent the string from coming out when I remove the bridge pin close to 100% of the time, IÂ’m confident I can come very close to my standard time.

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so .... I've thought about this topic long and hard and feel that this is the right time to share my story ... I ordered a custom X-20-12 at the end of 2018. Lots of promises that it would be quick to build. It was not. Communication between Emerald and myself was only when I initiated it, not a good sign when you have a custom instrument. It was finally delivered in October of 2019. Not a great start. Upon opening the guitar I noticed problems with the pickup system that had been installed. Wires were unconnected, and the battery was flopping loose inside the guitar. I never played it. It went back across the pond to be finished. It was March when I again had the guitar. It plays so nicely and the sound is amazing. Come June I go to change the original strings. Uh oh .... I can't remove some of the strings (because of how the pinless bridge was designed, the grooves are too tight), I go back and forth with Emerald as to what to do, no solutions work, so again back across the pond. I'm told there is no problem - they change the strings. I see the guitar again early summer and enjoy it for a few months before changing strings and oh oh .... same problem, this time the discussion is more heated and pointed, and I'm reminded that it is now more than a year old and there is nothing they can do, even though I've actually not had it in my possession for a year due to several trips across the pond. After more discussion, back across the pond it goes, several months pass and I'm told it is fixed, so I ask what was done for it to be fixed, apparently the pinless bridge was completely redone. Finally it comes back and I enjoy a few months of playing again and yes, this time I can actually change strings. I was disappointed that at no point in the many conversations that took place did Alistair admit that there were problems with his pinless bridge design. I've played guitar for over 50 years and owned a number of pinless bridge instruments that have never had a problem when removing or adding strings. I was also disappointed in Alistair's unwillingness to just make it right especially as this was a custom instrument. I agree with many of the above comments, it is a not a quick and easy task to replace strings with the current design of the pinless bridge. I not maligning Emerald, as I love their instruments and appreciate Alistair's innovations. I just think that his pinless bridge design needs to be tweaked.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by guitarwebguy

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so .... I've thought about this topic long and hard and feel that this is the right time to share my story ... I ordered a custom X-20-12 at the end of 2018. Lots of promises that it would be quick to build. It was not. Communication between Emerald and myself was only when I initiated it, not a good sign when you have a custom instrument. It was finally delivered in October of 2019. Not a great start. Upon opening the guitar I noticed problems with the pickup system that had been installed. Wires were unconnected, and the battery was flopping loose inside the guitar. I never played it. It went back across the pond to be finished. It was March when I again had the guitar. It plays so nicely and the sound is amazing. Come June I go to change the original strings. Uh oh .... I can't remove some of the strings (because of how the pinless bridge was designed, the grooves are too tight), I go back and forth with Emerald as to what to do, no solutions work, so again back across the pond. I'm told there is no problem - they change the strings. I see the guitar again early summer and enjoy it for a few months before changing strings and oh oh .... same problem, this time the discussion is more heated and pointed, and I'm reminded that it is now more than a year old and there is nothing they can do, even though I've actually not had it in my possession for a year due to several trips across the pond. After more discussion, back across the pond it goes, several months pass and I'm told it is fixed, so I ask what was done for it to be fixed, apparently the pinless bridge was completely redone. Finally it comes back and I enjoy a few months of playing again and yes, this time I can actually change strings. I was disappointed that at no point in the many conversations that took place did Alistair admit that there were problems with his pinless bridge design. I've played guitar for over 50 years and owned a number of pinless bridge instruments that have never had a problem when removing or adding strings. I was also disappointed in Alistair's unwillingness to just make it right especially as this was a custom instrument. I agree with many of the above comments, it is a not a quick and easy task to replace strings with the current design of the pinless bridge. I not maligning Emerald, as I love their instruments and appreciate Alistair's innovations. I just think that his pinless bridge design needs to be tweaked.

I agree their communication skills need to be improved. I had some issues with that myself. I haven't ever seen your particular guitar, but my X-20 is fine. String change isn't a problem. Maybe they already solved the issue?

[boneuphtoner]

Originally Posted by jdrnd

I saw a video by Byudzai where he effortlessly changes strings on a pinless X-20 or X-30. After experiencing the difficulties of string changing, I am now more impressed with his coordination.

I thought I had seen all of Byudazi’s excellent videos on Emeralds but I somehow missed this one - now I don’t feel quite as silly about reaching in the sound hole to secure the latch in the slot, but I think I made progress yesterday in using Emerald’s technique to just loop it in outside the sound hole. I still admire his dexterity in keeping that tension while winding up.

Thanks for sharing jdrnd!

[boneuphtoner]

Hey Guys - since I had received a new pack of D’Addario EJ19s (uncoated version of the stock EXP-19s) and I was curious about whether the change would impact the tone, I decided to try another string change.

With the improvements I made this time, I was able to change all 6 strings in 20 minutes - although still longer than what I can do with a conventional guitar with bridge pins, I was not displeased this time. A few notes:

- I still was unable to secure the ball end and trim/wind the strings without using a bridge pin to help
- With the exception of the 6th string, I was able to secure all of the ball ends using the Emerald method of latching from the outside. The 56 gauge 6th string just would not secure and I had to reach into the sound hole to secure it - I easily wasted 3 minutes on this alone.
- Remember how I wrote above about how I would use the bridge pin and sometimes after I added tension the ball end would come out? I realized I made a very silly mistake which contributed to this. I was using the bridge pin and I instinctively put the grooved side of the pin oriented towards the neck which is the way you would always do it if it had bridge pins - bad idea - turning it around 180 degrees so the groove is pointing towards the lower bout fixed the problem - I didn’t have the ball end come out a single time when I brought it up to tension changing it this way.

Oh, and BTW - aside from just a touch more finger squeak, I think the EJ19s seem to be just as good as the EXPs

[KevinH]

I've made the first string change on my new X-20 with the pinless bridge and experienced what many of you did. Even with the golf tee in the hole the ball end would sometimes pop out, and a couple of times it popped out after I removed the golf tee. As suggested I had bent the end of the string, but evidently not enough. Here is an image of the underside of the bridge:

inside.jpg

The treble side is on the left. You can see the tip of the golf tee in the treble e-string hole. I took this image after the B string popped out. I'm hoping this image illustrates the problem. The G and D strings (3rd and 4th from left) are seated pretty well, but the bass E string (far right) really isn't. And you can see that the golf tee doesn't really get down into the hole deep enough. A custom made pin would work better.

Anyway, I found what works best is to not just bend the string, but curve it, like this:

string.jpg

As you insert the string into the hole the ball will curve more into the slot and catch. That is probably what the unfrustrated people in this thread have been doing. Hopefully this will help the rest of us.

[ssstewart]

some great tips already given. another to consider on pinless bridges is to use a capo instead of trying to maintain tension on the string with your free hand as you pass it through the machine head, the capo keeps enough tension as to keep the string in place until tightened

[David Eastwood]

One of these days I’m going to have to tackle the Amicus. It can’t be harder than a 12-string Rickenbacker, can it?

IMG_1962.jpg

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

One of these days I’m going to have to tackle the Amicus. It can’t be harder than a 12-string Rickenbacker, can it? ..

Piece of cake

[Mark L]

Makes me glad I got my Amicus during the stone age period of bridge pins.

Sweet little instrument for sure!

[Tøf]

I see this pinless bridge as a typical example of form over function, solving a non-existing issue by creating new ones

My process is to start from the headstock securing the string on the peg with a few rotations (after I checked the length I needed). Only then I insert the ball end. I check under the bridge if the ball end sits firmly in place and force it in its slot if needed. Then I finish winding while keeping the string in tension.

It works ok but I still prefer standard bridge pins... even if it doesn't look as sleek

[RP]

I'll try curving the ball-ends before my next string change, but I changed the strings on my pines X20 last week. The high E took some doing, but the others readily fell into place...

[Mark L]

I’m with you on the Form/Function assessment Tof.
Love my Emeralds, all equipped with the now passe bridge pins.

[Rashi63]

Just changed them on the Amicus with the pinless bridge and all went great....until the very thin high "D" strings. 2 of them broke. I got replacements from Newtone - seems like it was more of a string issue than a bridge issue.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Rashi63

Just changed them on the Amicus with the pinless bridge and all went great....until the very thin high "D" strings. 2 of them broke. I got replacements from Newtone - seems like it was more of a string issue than a bridge issue.

Good to hear! I need to order from Newtone - my Amicus is long overdue. Maybe I’ll order a couple of extra 1st strings as a precaution.