Bridge Pins

Nope, its not just you.. There is a little trick that the guy at the music store told me to help keep them in.. but then by the time it comes to change strings again I forget and I have to have him do it again.

Geoo

Nope, its not just you.. There is a little trick that the guy at the music store told me to help keep them in..
Geoo

ahhh, I thought I was going to get a tip.

Put a bend in the string, 60 degrees or so, about 1/2 inch or so from the ball before inserting. That should keep it snug.

Don't ever jam them in. They don't hold the strings in, they just guide the ball end when you tighten. If your strings start to pop the pins, loosen them up and start again.

Don't ever jam them in. They don't hold the strings in, they just guide the ball end when you tighten. If your strings start to pop the pins, loosen them up and start again.

Umm, why do I get the feeling that I've been doing things the hard way. :oops:

I usually just use them to push the ball-end into the hole thinger, then i hold it with my thumb while i tighten the string. I've found that if i dont hold it, it'll pop out. You dont need alot of pressure at all. and if you're still having troubles with the string popping out, use MaxRumble's advice.

I think they look cool. I have cool black ones with MOP inlays on top on my martin and neat white ones on my Fender. Some people make brass ones. Dunno what the point of those are though.

IS there any benefit to changing them out with the Tusq ones or some other fancy material pins??

I have a seegull guitar for what it's worth.

Only if you like the way they look.

Don't think anyone actually said it above: When everything is properly seated the ball end sits against the bridge plate (essentially right against the inside of the top), and right beside -- not under -- the bridge pin. Once you realize this, the Max's 60 degree bend and Nick's doesn't hold 'em in advice makes sense.

Here's an inside view from Stew-mac:

IS there any benefit to changing them out with the Tusq ones or some other fancy material pins??

I have a seegull guitar for what it's worth.

I used to think that bridge pins didn't make any difference, although some people swear they do. Lately I've been researching the physics of guitars for a section in a new book, and I've revised my opinion....

The top of a guitar vibrates in very specific patterns, which depend on the dimensions of the top, the total mass of the top, the mass distribution (which varies with bracing method and material), stiffness of the wood, and size and location of the soundhole. Under some conditions, the choice of bridge pin materials can actually have an effect on tone - and on certain guitars, specific bridge pin material choices might even create a significant difference.

The difference is strictly related to the mass of the pins. Since tusq has more mass than plastic, there MAY be some tonal difference. However, folks who say 'such and such a pin enhances the bass' or whatever are full of it - the mechanics of tone production make such generalizations impossible to draw. If it's true of their guitar, it may not be true of yours.

There's one other thing to beware of, and maybe experiment with. You know there are nodes on the strings - points with limited vibration, where you can get harmonics. There are also 'nodes' on the top of the guitar for each frequency, but in very complex patterns... if changing the mass of a string puts the 'node' (called a Chladni line) beneath the string associated with that pitch, that string is going to sound weaker than the others. If you change the pins and don't like the result, you might want to change one or more pins back, and maybe vary the location of the lighter ones.

OK, at this point it's time to admit that I was making it MUCH harder than I needed to. I'm just glad I didn't get the hammer out. :)

I had visions of you using WD-40 and a wonder bar :lol:

I did have a little hand-held grinder thingy out trimming down the ring on a couple of the pins. :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

The first thing you need to learn is that you never try to force anything.

Get a bigger hammer.