Do bone bridge pins really improve tonality...or just look cool?

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by dneal

Don't want to be pedantic, but this raised my eyebrows...

"My current pins on my main guitar are Buffalo Horn…(sometimes referred to as Amber)"

Buffalo horn is exactly what it sounds like. The horn material from a buffalo. Amber is fossilized tree resin. Rumor has it that if you have a piece of amber with a mosquito in it, you can grow dinosaurs through a convoluted process...

If you do that last part with your bridge pins do not under any circumstances allow the T Rex to play your guitar. Particularly if you own a dreadnaught, they will whine and complain about how hard it is to reach around that large lower bout.

[Shades of Blue]

Most people put on a new set of strings when they change out the pins. I think that is what they are hearing most of the time.

[stephenT]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

Most people put on a new set of strings when they change out the pins. I think that is what they are hearing most of the time.

Naw,.. I loosened my strings slightly and replaced the pins. What I'm hearing are the effects of different bridge pins, their weight/mass and hardness.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

As someone who has experimented with plastic, ebony, bone and Martin's Luxe Liquidmetal bridge pins across all of his guitars, what I can say from my experience is:

Bridge pins do change the tone. The degree of which they'll change the tone will vary from guitar to guitar. On some, I couldn't tell a difference. Others, I could easily detect one.

And to add to that, a change doesn't necessarily equate to improvement, depending on your perception and reaction to the change. I'd say 5 of my guitars currently have the stock pins they came with, and 4 have different pins. And yes when I A/B I usually have fairly new strings on and I do the "clamp with a capo and just change the pins" so I am comparing apples to apples.

[dnf777]

Im in the camp of aesthetics only. Not so much tone differences, after having tried bone, horn, plastics, even brass. Surprised nobody makes vespel or caesin pins!

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by dnf777

Im in the camp of aesthetics only. Not so much tone differences, after having tried bone, horn, plastics, even brass. Surprised nobody makes vespel or caesin pins!

I can get behind if people don't feel pins make much of a difference, especially based on how different guitars react to pin changes.

But with regards to vespel and casein (I assume you're equating the changing of pin material to the changing of pick material) that analogy I can't relate to. Not only do my casein and vespel CLP picks make a very pronounced difference, I've surprised many of my non-player friends by that difference by swapping between picks. To me, casein, vespel, and other thermoplastics make a demonstrable tone difference (as does pick thickness, etc.). Whether you like it or not, or if it justifies the high cost of the picks is up to the individual, but the tonal differences are pretty pronounced IME.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Ozarkpicker

Seriously...do bone pins REALLY change the tonality of a guitar at all?

LOL ...come on, man, you know where this thread is going!

[jdinco]

I put some Tusq pins in my 000-18 and Martin D Jr., I noticed both a bit more mellow with a better balance string to string on the 18. Sustain improved on both guitars too. I liked the change and found the biggest difference to be on the Jr., to ME....the pins made it sound like a more expensive guitar. I picked Tusq only because their price point was kind of in the middle of the other choices. I didn't think they would make a difference that I would notice, but they did. Let us know what you hear, or don't hear.

[Terry_D]

[QUOTE=FrankHudson;6696630]As always, your posts on matters like this are interesting and informative. Could one largely demonstrate the same impact by fastening an American nickel* (5 cent coin) to a bridge with something like low tack tape?

*A nickel weighs exactly 5 g.[/QUOTE

Would you use a vintage nickel or a new nickel?

[Nctom]

When I change pins from the original slotted plastic to nonslotted ebony or bone I also adjust the bridge pin holes as needed. I taper and slot the the holes and make sure the pins fit properly; these adjustments, I feel, make pin replacement a better part of the operating system.

When these steps are taken I believe the sound of the guitar is enhanced. In my experience, the improvement is present even if nonslotted plastic pins are used. If the bridges were better finished, even on the more expensive guitars, rather than simply boring straight pin holes with slotted pins the guitars would sound better.

[jimmy bookout]

My "opinion", which is worth exactly what you paid for it, is that bone pins don't impact the guitar, tonally. That is assuming (!) that the bone pins are properly fitted and the pins the bone pins replaced were also properly fitted (NEW bone pins verses 20 year old plastic pins is NOT a correct comparison).

PS. That said, I have Colosi bone pins on ALL of my steel string guitars...because they sure are PURDY!!!

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by LakewoodM32Fan

I can get behind if people don't feel pins make much of a difference, especially based on how different guitars react to pin changes.

But with regards to vespel and casein (I assume you're equating the changing of pin material to the changing of pick material) that analogy I can't relate to. Not only do my casein and vespel CLP picks make a very pronounced difference, I've surprised many of my non-player friends by that difference by swapping between picks. To me, casein, vespel, and other thermoplastics make a demonstrable tone difference (as does pick thickness, etc.). Whether you like it or not, or if it justifies the high cost of the picks is up to the individual, but the tonal differences are pretty pronounced IME.

No, I was joking about making PINS out of those materiels. Hence the “”.

I have several BC picks, and love them only slightly less than my caesin CL picks. I was just trying to open up a new niche for Memmer, in case the picks werent keeping him busy enough! (That was a joke too-I get his emails)

[TDavis]

Originally Posted by jim1960

LOL ...come on, man, you know where this thread is going!

I don't really know what you're trying to say. I do know that everything is subjective. There are threads about the best strings for dreadnoughts, if a larger sound hole makes a difference, if a bone nut/saddle changes the sound...threads about adi vs. sitka vs. cedar vs. sapele vs. engleman...and the list goes on and on. Mine is no different.

I started this thread to ask the educated and experienced opinions of players who have had more road under their wheels than I have...and might steer me in the right direction. If that's you, and you can make a comment that answers my question...or gives me your opinion, that's great. That's "where this thread is going"...or where I hoped it would go, at any rate.

[OddManOut]

I found bone LMI bone pins add a bit of clarity, string separation and sustain to a warm guitar which has wood or plastic pins. It is subtle, but not insignificant.

[Wade Hampton]

Whether bone bridge pins have any tonal impact depends on who you talk to. Kevin Kopp put bone pins on the K-185 he recently built for me, and I asked him if he thought they have a tonal effect.

He told me that he uses them because they’re durable. He didn’t offer any opinions on whether they affect the sound.


whm