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Bridge pin taper??
http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=19200		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Robbie O'Brien [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:25 am ]
Post subject:  Bridge pin taper??
What are most of you guys using for a bridge pin taper, 3 degree or 5 degree? also, slotted or unslotted?
I notice that LMI calls their 3 degree "standard"and Stew Mac calls their 5 degree "vintage"
Author:  Pat Foster [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
Hi, Robbie,

I use 5° unslotted from Stewmac.

Pat
Author:  Hesh [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
3 degree, unslotted, custom made for a daydreaming boy...... :D

BTW I "borrowed" that line from my friend Mark Swanson.
Author:  David Collins [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
I would love to see a reliable supply of 3° unslotted pins. White and black plastic, with and without dots, ebony and rosewood would be nice. I'm not really interested in bone or horn, but I'm sure many others are.

Right now I stock StewMac's 5° pins, because I think they're the best and most consistent unslotted pins out there (best under $10 anyway). If I were building I would likely prefer 3° however, to better fill the bottom of the hole without needing oversize pins. More importantly for me however, it would be nice to have a good supply of replacement unslotted pins for Gibson, some older Martins, older Collings, and plenty of others that used 3°. (Hint, hint, StewMac ;) )

I'm doing my best to educate and convert the world to unslotted pins. Hopefully as more people want to convert, there will be enough demand for someone to offer their excellent unslotted bridge pins in both 3° and 5° (again, hint hint).
Author:  JHerrick [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
David Collins wrote:
I would love to see a reliable supply of 3° unslotted pins. White and black plastic, with and without dots, ebony and rosewood would be nice.

It looks like RC Tonewoods has 3 degree taper unslotted BRW pins.


I've been "converted" and only use unslotted pins now...so it's working David!

I'm also only currently stocking the (unslotted) 5 degree bone pins from StewMac.

Joe

Edited for typos.
Author:  David Collins [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
JHerrick wrote:
It looks like RC Tonewoods has 3 degree taper unslotted BRW pins.


Those are nice, and I would certainly be buying those from Bob If I were building instruments. For retrofitting though, it would be great to have plain old plastics and perhaps ebony, with and without dots. And to make it easier to keep a decent number in stock of several styles, StewMac may be more well set up to put plastic ones out in the lower price range. I'm sure it's just a question of whether there's enough demand for them yet.
Author:  Todd Rose [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
Thanks to the education on the matter I've received from David and others, I use 3 deg unslotted. I've gotten some very nice ones in bone from David Warther - http://www.ivorybuyer.com/sales/ - but I, too, would love to see Stewmac or somebody carry them in ebony, rosewood, etc.
Author:  Howard Klepper [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
We did a group buy of Gurian pins a few years ago. After repeated assurances that we would be getting 5º (we were concerned, because the only unslotted Gurian pins anyone had seen were the 3º ones at LMI), they sent us 3º. And they just are not as nice or consistent or well finished as the StewMac 5º pins. They also are smaller in diameter at the top, and getting a ball string end into the hole can be difficult. I suppose it's been a long time to hold a grudge, but they told us (Paul Woolson was our contact person) at least three times that we would get 5º. Grrrr.

So, the 3º can be had, but . . .

I'm looking forward to making my own when I get the new shop built next year and have space for a small metal lathe.
Author:  Jimmy Caldwell [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
David,

Michael Gurian will make you pretty much anything you want. He has a minimum order, but it's not that much and his stuff is top quality.

Howard beat me to it. I didn't participate in the group buy and wasn't aware of the problem. Oh well...........

http://www.gurianinstruments.com
Author:  Terence Kennedy [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
5 degree unslotted-Stew Mac.
TJK
Author:  Jeff Highland [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
3 deg unslotted white bone (or black buffalo horn) pau dots from bruceweiart via ebay at less than $10.
Author:  TonyFrancis [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
-
Author:  Arnt Rian [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
I use the 5 degree unslotted ebony pins from Stewmac, but I would like to use 3 degree ones if I had them and the quality was equally nice.
Author:  SniderMike [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
Well, you've just convinced me that you ARE a spammer. (Whatever that is)
Author:  Lazy J [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
About the only thing I know about Spam is that when I was little my mother convinced us that is was a special treat to have Spam for dinner.

It wasn't until I got much older that I realized that my mother called it a 'treat' because that was we could only afford Spam once a week!

Now, my children have no idea what Spam is...

Ain't America grand?
Author:  Brad T [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
5 degree, moving over into the unslotted, from Stewmac.
Author:  Alan [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
Sounds like preference is split between 3 degree and 5 degree, but most appear to prefer unslotted. How about material...bone, wood, plastic? Advantages of one over the other?
Author:  Dave Anderson [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
I've used the 3* like Bob sells and they are very nice. Definitely unslotted.
I like wood (ebony,rw) or bone.
Author:  Hesh [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bridge pin taper??
Alan wrote:
Sounds like preference is split between 3 degree and 5 degree, but most appear to prefer unslotted. How about material...bone, wood, plastic? Advantages of one over the other?


Hi Alan and welcome to the OLF [:Y:] [clap] [clap] [clap]

I think that the taper, 5 or 3, is less important IMHO than the benefits of being unslotted. I would use either taper but I have arrested development when it comes to using unslotted pins.

As for materials, we have been to this movie before so-to-speak on the OLF and some claim to hear differences in different pin materials, I was one who did/do especially when switching to something very dense like bone. Others heard no difference and one of our favorite terms, psychoacoustics was mentioned.... :D

The best rational that I have ever heard for why, if in fact there is a difference in the tone from different pin materials is the change in weight to the bridge area that some pin materials impart.

Regarding the quality of the pin fit - prior to having custom pins made for me the pins (wood and bone) that I purchased from commercial sources did leave something to be desired in terms of fit and quality. I found a few pins that they even forgot to machine the lip on all together and many were not uniform enough to be interchangeable and still maintain the height that we all strive for - uniform.

Mario/Grumpy solved my problem by suggesting that once I fit a pin write a number on it so it can always be used in the hole that it was fitted for.

Again welcome to the OLF.
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