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Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone might be able to help me in locating a set of ebony bridge pins for a Taylor Big Baby. I’ve tried everywhere I can think of to find some pins of the correct dimensions, but I just don’t seem to be able to get them sorted.

Taylor do in fact sell a set of replacement ebony pins, but unfortunately they decided to use a different size on the ‘Baby’ models, and so these will not fit.

The original pins are a very cheap plastic, and difficult to measure accurately due to inconsistency in manufactur and seams in the moulding.. however the closest I can get is a 5.5mm diameter at the uppermost of the taper, and a 4.1mm diameter at the bottom.. the taper is 26mm in length, so 26mm between these two diameters.

I’ve also measured the taper in the actual bridge holes.. these start at 5.5mm in diameter at the very top, with a lower diameter of 5.25mm. The hole is approximately 12.83mm in depth, and so there is a distance of 12.83mm between these two diameter measurements.

None of the commercially available pins I have found so far seem to match these dimensions, and so it’s becoming rather frustrating in trying to source them. If anyone could possibly help, I’d be extremely grateful.

Oh, I’m located in the UK by the way, so a UK seller would be preferable if at all possible.

Thank you

Russ

Bob Colosi is always a good choice. http://www.guitarsaddles.com/

I don't know if there are CITES issues with ebony pins but that is a potential problem shipping them to the UK. Another possibility is to ream the holes to a more standard size and taper and use off the shelf pins.

I have several times filed the Martin (and other) BP holes (straight bridge hole, no taper) with ebony or rosewood dust and superglue (put tape under the holes first), then drilled and reamed the taper to fit non-slotted pins as a repair.
Don't see why not on the Big Baby.
Size for the bridge pins you want.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

" I have several times filed the Martin (and other) BP holes (straight bridge hole, no taper) with ebony or rosewood dust and superglue (put tape under the holes first), then drilled and reamed the taper to fit non-slotted pins as a repair.
Don't see why not on the Big Baby.
Size for the bridge pins you want."


Instead of filling and reaming, I wonder if it would work to teflon tape (plumber's tape) the pins and use them to shape the holes that you fill with the dust and glue?

By my quick calculations, you’re looking for a 3° taper pin with a 0.21-0.22” diameter at the top. You can doublecheck the trig using an online calculator, but that would describe a standard 3° taper pin, readily available from numerous sources. Please, someone confirm my calculation.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Tim, I also calculated 3 degrees too.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Another way to resize the holes is to use shavings from a plane. They naturally want to curl and you can fit them in the holes, tighten with those Teflon bridge pins from Stew Mac and flood with thin CA.

Works pretty well.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.