Topic: Guitar Bridge Pin Material Suggestions

[westside ryan]

I am looking to upgrade the plastic bridge pins in one of my Martins to something better.  Any opinions on what's good?  I was thinking about ivoriod pins made out of a casein material, bone pins, or maybe Tusq pins.  The bone and Tusq pins are a little more than twice as expensive as the ivoriod.  Is the extra cost worth it? 

[Rivers]

Pins have no effect whatsoever on tone. Someone will no doubt disagree but that's my experience and also the general consensus on discussion boards like the Martin forum. Saddle and nut however are another matter, go for the bone.

Then there's the matter of string break angle over the saddle, slotting the pin holes. Depends really on what you'd like to achieve. What model & year of Martin is it?

This thread could go on for a while. 

[Mike Shipman]

"One of my Martins!".....wow!

[Stumblin]

I put some nice mahogany ones in a Simon & Patrick dreadnought a bit back, at that time there was some online discussion as to whether bridge pins make any perceptible difference to a guitar's sound. I think the mahogany pins made the tone brighter and clearer and made the guitar a bit louder overall. So... I can definitely recommend mahogany pins.
A long time ago, I saw some pins called "Dinosaur Bones," these were (according to their own publicity) made from fossilised (therefore presumably walrus or even mammoth) ivory. Has anyone else seen or heard of these? I totally wanted to get some, but they disappeared from sale before I'd accumulated the necessary scratch.

[Parlor Picker]

Based on my own first-hand experience, I have to disagree with Rivers on this one (sorry, Mark).

I replaced the plastic pins in my Larriv?e Rosewood Parlor guitar for ebony ones and immediately it lost all tone. All strings produced a dull thud. I couldn't believe it at the time, but on replacing the originals, the tone came back.

I thought I was making an upgrade in terms of both sound and appearance.

However, similar ebony pins in two other guitars (including the Kalamazoo seen to the left <---) have had no detrimental effect on sound.

Some discussion on the Larriv?e Guitar Forum indicated that brass pins can sound brash.

[Lyle Lofgren]

"One of my Martins!".....wow!

There are such fortunate people. A friend of mine owns at least a dozen that I know of, of all vintages. He's been buying them over the years, and he claims that they're his investments in his retirement plan. But, like all obsessive collectors, he'll never sell any of them. I think maybe that, late at night, he set them all up around him and played one of them, listening to the resonances from all the others. Alas, he doesn't play any guitar much any more, since he developed a bad case of trigger finger from practicing too long trying to sound like Mississippi John Hurt (more obsessiveness). So I think he now mainly takes them out, tunes them, wipes off the dust, and puts them back in the cases.

Lyle

[Rivers]

Ah, ebony, now you mention it Michael I did have a similar experience with ebony pins. Only with ebony though.

Beats me how anyone would think brass pins would sound (or look) good on a Martin, I must be missing something.

"One of my Martins!".....wow!

Bear in mind Mike you have to pay through the nose for a Martin in the UK. In the US it's more common to meet players with more than one or two. One of the reasons I like living here, US guitars are cheaper here than anywhere else, although I've moved away from Martins these days, preferring NRP and Guild, and a nice little 20's Stella, which I know is out there and hope to find some day.

[Parlor Picker]

If anyone is interested, here's the original thread on the Larriv?e Guitar Forum:
http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=16984.msg153532#msg153532

[Parlor Picker]

Back to pins:

... and are most likely over kill for my low end Martins.

I reckon any improvement (e.g. new strings, better saddle, etc...) would also work on a cheap guitar, but I see what you mean in terms of money - probably not worth investing in expensive, fancy bridge pins for a cheap guitar.

Looks like you'll have to experiment a bit, if possible.