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  #1  
Old 04-09-2018, 11:15 PM
byudzai byudzai is offline
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Default Pimping out my Sable

I adore my Sable but I wanted it to have two qualities from other guitars: the built in the tuner from my Martin and the pinless bridge from my Breedlove.

I spent a long time trying to design and 3D print an under-bridge gizmo to solve the second problem and realized (and I can't believe it took me this long to figure out) I could just put the pins in from underneath, thanks to the beautiful McPherson side hole. Preserves whatever sound quality the engineers had in mind with those tinkly glass-like pins and gives me that palm contact I want with the saddle for more control of subtle palm mutes.

The tuner also took advantage of the side hole. I took a cutoff wheel to the clip of my $50 PolyTune till it was a flat surface, then stuck it to the inside of the guitar with double-sided gorilla tape. So far it's perfect. No buzzes etc.

Me playing:



The tuner, folded down and in action:



The tuning pins upside down:



The reason I like pinless bridges. I swear it gives you more tonal control of mutes:

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Old 04-10-2018, 04:47 AM
GuitarDoc GuitarDoc is offline
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Default Very ingenious

Builders take note.
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Old 04-10-2018, 05:00 AM
kramster kramster is offline
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Cool... interesting about the pins...
You must be around 6'1" or so tall.
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Old 04-10-2018, 06:22 AM
jojobean39 jojobean39 is offline
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Very cool. I have always thought pinless bridges made a lot more sense. My Breedlove and Lowden had pinless bridges and they are at least easier to change the strings. I think it looks better too.
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Old 04-10-2018, 06:43 AM
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Pinless bridges make all the sense in the world to me.

I had an old Taylor 410 that had a pinless bridge. I was surprised they abandoned that and went back to traditional pinned bridges.

I read somewhere that pinless bridges more torque trying to peel the bridge off, as opposed to straight up tension against the bridge plate. So, I guess that makes sense but they just seem so much more simple and elegant.
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Old 04-10-2018, 07:02 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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Expected this:



Hmmm... not a Buick?

Bob
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Old 04-10-2018, 08:24 AM
Captain Jim Captain Jim is offline
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Buick? "Gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise it on down the road..."

To get back on-topic: I like the mods to the Sable... the guitar, not the car.
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Old 04-10-2018, 09:14 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Jim View Post
Buick? "Gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise it on down the road..."
Ooops.. you are right. But pimped, nonetheless.

Bob
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Old 04-10-2018, 03:34 PM
kramster kramster is offline
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I want a new Plymouth.. Pinless if they make'em.

I was just thinking about these discontinued models earlier today...must be in the air
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Emerald: X-20, Center hole X-10 (Maple) and X-7 (redwood), Spalted Chen Chen X 10 level 3,
CA: Early OX and Cargo
McPherson: Early Kevin Michael Proto
Some wood things by Epi, Harmony, Takamine, Good Time, PRS, Slick, Gypsy Music, keyboards, wind controllers.. etc
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Old 04-10-2018, 03:40 PM
Braindead Braindead is offline
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I have two OLD guitars that have a tailpiece. I know just enough about guitar construction to get me in trouble but the tailpiece seems very practical.

Recently, I lowered the string height on one of my antiques. It has a tailpiece and a floating bridge. The bone did not have enough meat left on it to start whittling but the three leg bridge had not been touched. I marked the position of the bridge and then loosened the strings. I was able to slide the bridge right out. I did not think the bridge had full contact with the top and I was right. I used a horizontal belt sander to take off some material in tiny increments and evened out the legs at the same time. The bed of my belt sander has a laser level on it and it came in handy.
Now the bridge has full contact with the top and the strings are close to playable.

So what is the downside of a tailpiece?
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  #11  
Old 04-10-2018, 03:43 PM
kramster kramster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Braindead View Post
I

So what is the downside of a tailpiece?
I think you just fixed the downside.
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Emerald: X-20, Center hole X-10 (Maple) and X-7 (redwood), Spalted Chen Chen X 10 level 3,
CA: Early OX and Cargo
McPherson: Early Kevin Michael Proto
Some wood things by Epi, Harmony, Takamine, Good Time, PRS, Slick, Gypsy Music, keyboards, wind controllers.. etc
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  #12  
Old 04-10-2018, 06:27 PM
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Braindead;

I made a few guitars with tailpieces. I like them. What I particularly liked was the ability to move the saddle to the best intonation. With newer guitars, intonation is much more precise than it once was. The movable saddle also had a downside--it would move, on its own, it was like magic.

Anyway, that's my two cents.
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  #13  
Old 04-10-2018, 06:47 PM
GuitarDoc GuitarDoc is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kramster View Post
Cool... interesting about the pins...
You must be around 6'1" or so tall.
He never confirmed how tall he is? I would guess an athlete. Swimmer?
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  #14  
Old 04-11-2018, 03:45 AM
byudzai byudzai is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GuitarDoc View Post
He never confirmed how tall he is? I would guess an athlete. Swimmer?
6'3". Actually the world's most awkward ninja.
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  #15  
Old 04-11-2018, 05:08 AM
kramster kramster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by byudzai View Post
6'3". Actually the world's most awkward ninja.
I figured at least 6'1" or more after triangulating off the pimped out Sable.
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YUP....
Emerald: X-20, Center hole X-10 (Maple) and X-7 (redwood), Spalted Chen Chen X 10 level 3,
CA: Early OX and Cargo
McPherson: Early Kevin Michael Proto
Some wood things by Epi, Harmony, Takamine, Good Time, PRS, Slick, Gypsy Music, keyboards, wind controllers.. etc
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