Martin's new Liquidmetal bridge pins?

[ii Cybershot ii]

If bridge pins are seated correctly, they literally might not even be touching the wound part of the string itself, just the ball end and perhaps the tie. After that, the string immediately touches the bridge, followed by touching the saddle. I don't think I'll ever bring myself to try bridge pins for tone reasons.

[JayBee1404]

If you have slotted pin-holes and solid pins, even the ball-ends might not contact the pins, they ‘lock’ under the bridge plate. I read claims that even changing one bridge-pin can miraculously transform an instrument’s tone, but my personal view is that that claim is based on a great deal of Confirmation-Bias.

I’ve changed pins in all my pin-bridge guitars - original plastic to bone to FWI to ebony to Antique Acoustics galalith. Never heard a difference. Settled on ebony w/MOP dots, purely for the sake of appearance.

My Lowdens don’t even have bridge-pins, and they lack absolutely nothing in terms of volume and tone.

The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.

[Akousticplyr]

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

My Lowdens don’t even have bridge-pins, and they lack absolutely nothing in terms of volume and tone.

Great point.

[ii Cybershot ii]

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

If you have slotted pin-holes and solid pins, even the ball-ends might not contact the pins, they ‘lock’ under the bridge plate. I read claims that even changing one bridge-pin can miraculously transform an instrument’s tone, but my personal view is that that claim is based on a great deal of Confirmation-Bias.

I’ve changed pins in all my pin-bridge guitars - original plastic to bone to FWI to ebony to Antique Acoustics galalith. Never heard a difference. Settled on ebony w/MOP dots, purely for the sake of appearance.

My Lowdens don’t even have bridge-pins, and they lack absolutely nothing in terms of volume and tone.

The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.

Excellent points, excellent points...

[Monkeysweeper]

I’m not an expert, by any means, but in a pinless bridge the dynamics of string contact is different and could possibly cause a different sound. Has anyone ever put a traditional pin-style bridge on a guitar designed for a pinless one? I had a nice Takamine made with quality wood and sounded (so I thought) wonderful; until I played with my brother’s D-15. Could have been any number of factors, but I made him sell me the Martin and gave the Takamine to a friend. In the end; if it sounds better to you there’s no reason not to give it a whirl. I, for one, take comfort in the fact that gifted and dedicated people are taking valuable time out of their day to try and enhance my guitar experience.

[Beakybird]

I read somewhere that if you had one teaspoon of the matter that makes up a neutron star, it would weigh two tons. Surely, bridge pins made of this material would have an effect on tone.

[rjane04]

Anyone here know where can i buy the new"liquidmetal bridge pins" like the one Martin used on their new line up?

[jcpharm]

Originally Posted by rjane04

Anyone here know where can i buy the new"liquidmetal bridge pins" like the one Martin used on their new line up?

you can buy them here:
https://www.martinguitar.com/1833-shop/

for $99 (dark grey or chrome) or $149 (gold)...pretty pricey upgrade!

[jklotz]

I went through the excercise with a Martin Jeff Tweedy I used to own. Tusq, ebony, brass and I forget what else. I could hear a difference. Some more apparent than others. In the end, I went back to the stock plastic ones. They just sounded better on that guitar.

I suppose my attitude about it these days is leave it the way it was designed unless I don't like it, in which case I'd probably just sell the guitar.

Maybe those new Martin ones offer something special, but at $99, I don't think I'll be finding out first hand any time soon.

[Bernieman]

Did anyone record or measure in exactly the same conditions; his guitar playing with liquid metal pins and with his previous ones, as it is now possible to have those pins on any guitar since they are on sale ($149 for a set of six)...It would be interesting to see if there is a genuine difference in volume, which seemed to me to be the case on a recording I heard of a Modern Deluxe ? I may have missed such report, so I hope someone will tell if it's been done...

[v32 finish]

Originally Posted by Bernieman

Did anyone record or measure in exactly the same conditions; his guitar playing with liquid metal pins and with his previous ones, as it is now possible to have those pins on any guitar since they are on sale ($149 for a set of six)...It would be interesting to see if there is a genuine difference in volume, which seemed to me to be the case on a recording I heard of a Modern Deluxe ? I may have missed such report, so I hope someone will tell if it's been done...

Man.. I wish I could remember who it was who was doing all of the crazy specific and in depth testing of bridge pins. I wanna say vindibona(??) But I'm not sure. Also I apologize for context; (or lack) but I didnt read the OP or any of the replies.. just kinda skipped right here.

At any rate, I would be interested to know if there is any difference.. but I will likely just stick with dyed bone as I like the aesthetic better, on my guitars anyway. I have been really interested in a 000 or OM modern deluxe but just cant make it work in the budget for another year or 2 without selling something that I'm not willing to.

Cheers
Scott

[Americana]

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

My Lowdens don’t even have bridge-pins, and they lack absolutely nothing in terms of volume and tone.

The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.

I'd agree with your statement YMMV, as I've never played a Lowden that wow'd me. And like you, I also haven't had the opportunity to compare a Lowden with bridge pins to one without.

[Bridgepin]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

The composite bridge plate interests me far more than the bridge pins do.


whm

I am looking forward to playing this guitar, and I am with on the bridge plate

[MChild62]

Originally Posted by Beakybird

I read somewhere that if you had one teaspoon of the matter that makes up a neutron star, it would weigh two tons. Surely, bridge pins made of this material would have an effect on tone.

Actually an entire teaspoon would weigh around 10 million tons. I'm in! Any idea of shipping costs?

http://hosting.astro.cornell.edu/aca...utron_star.htm

[hat]

Isn't JB Weld a form of liquid metal? Maybe that's the next big thing?