Ace23 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Just wondering if these are worth a try? I have a Hummingbird and a 60's J-45. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modoc_333 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 I have no experience with it but it seems to go against everything that makes a guitar sound good. Adding all of that weight to the bridge can't be good IMHO and that's just the start. Maybe I am wrong, but to my eye it looks like a million other things that pop up as a money making idea for someone but never goes anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 I have no experience with it but it seems to go against everything that makes a guitar sound good. Adding all of that weight to the bridge can't be good IMHO and that's just the start. Maybe I am wrong, but to my eye it looks like a million other things that pop up as a money making idea for someone but never goes anywhere. Thanks, it looks like a totally revesrible mod, with moneyback guarantte, so i may give it a try just to see www.f1pick.com, they do have some impressive tests on the site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Snake oil !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 Youve tried them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 I agree. This seems to be an "upgrade to a downgrade". Ovation used a pin-less bridge where the string travels parallel to the top of the guitar and the ball-end seats at the back of the bridge. However, I always felt that was a way to cheap out. The string doesn't anchor perpendicular to the guitar top and therefore, less of the string's vibrations are transferred to the top. You see this in electric guitars and basses as well. The cheaper models have the ball-ends seat behind the bridge without going through the body. You get more tone and sustain if the strings travel through the guitar body perpendicular then travel over the saddles parallel to the body. From the photo above it looks to me that there is now NO break angle over the saddle on this guitar. It has to sound horrible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 yeah i was wondering about that,so youre saying that a les paul suffers from the same problem, the tailpiece is not as good as say a strat? The break angle does seem shallow, but as long as the strings dont buzz, is there a difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 yeah i was wondering about that,so youre saying that a les paul suffers from the same problem, the tailpiece is not as good as say a strat? The break angle does seem shallow, but as long as the strings dont buzz, is there a difference? The Les Paul stop tail piece is buried into a very thick piece of wood which is the guitar's body. But again, electrics are different animals. The top of an acoustic (usually thin spruce) needs to move to produce sound. The top of Les Paul doesn't move as much as it resonates. I was thinking of the difference between, for example, a Squier Precision Bass bridge and a genuine American Fender Precision bass bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 Ok I know what you mean, does this make any sense to you from that aspect, considering that the contact between the pin and soundboard is increased by the compression from the screws? http://www.f1pick.com/powerpinassemblypage.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 I just looked at the Squier and the american P bass bridges, they look the same , am i missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modoc_333 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 It would change a LP if it strung through the body. Teles ha e been offered both ways and the internet is FULL of discussion on the differences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buc McMaster Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Snakeoil indeed! While an innovative idea for bridge pin design, I see little or no practical advantage nor tonal improvements available from this device. Loss of break angle, no ball end contact with the bridge plate.......innovative design, bad idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 It would change a LP if it strung through the body. Teles ha e been offered both ways and the internet is FULL of discussion on the differences I dont know what an LP is, but from what ive seen the "Hard tail teles" seem to be the more desirable , and they dont string through the body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 Snakeoil indeed! While an innovative idea for bridge pin design, I see little or no practical advantage nor tonal improvements available from this device. Loss of break angle, no ball end contact with the bridge plate.......innovative design, bad idea. One thing for sure that I can see, is stringing looks quicker, and the ball end contact is a problem im having with my J-45, they have chewed up the holes . The ball ends are pulling through the bridge plate , this looks like a fix for that , my repair guy wants $400 to replace the it, and doesnt guarantee that it wont radically change the sound , he said that 1 in 10 bridge plate repairs fail, and the guitar is ruined in the process. Ive read that Brass and fossil bridge pins improve the tone and sustain, is there anything to that, or more snake oil? Also do you think the compression of the bridge , soundboard and bridge plate would transfer the vibrations better, and make up for the lack of contact of the ball end with the bridge plate, if that really helps anything, for me its almost ruined my axe, and had me searching for a fix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 It would change a LP if it strung through the body. Teles ha e been offered both ways and the internet is FULL of discussion on the differences Sorry, of course LP is Les Paul, ita a little early for me . So what you are saying that a LP, would sound better with the through the body design? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buc McMaster Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Sorry to hear your bridge plate has been gnawed up.....the guitar is, afterall, 50 or so years old. These things happen with time and use. However, if the guitar is otherwise "right" it should be properly repaired rather than take some new-fangled shortcut with questionable results. Sure, restringing appears to be easier with these pins, but how difficult is restringing the old fashioned way? As for pin material..... Some guitars do seem to benefit sonically from a pin change to some organic material, others do not. Not much way to predict how your guitar would respond to bone, brass, ebony, etc. pins, but it is cheap experimenting. As I said before, I think this is a quite innovative re-design of acoustic bridge pins but I personally question the value of the results. Beside that, they just look weird on an acoustic guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 Sorry to hear your bridge plate has been gnawed up.....the guitar is, afterall, 50 or so years old. These things happen with time and use. However, if the guitar is otherwise "right" it should be properly repaired rather than take some new-fangled shortcut with questionable results. Sure, restringing appears to be easier with these pins, but how difficult is restringing the old fashioned way? As for pin material..... Some guitars do seem to benefit sonically from a pin change to some organic material, others do not. Not much way to predict how your guitar would respond to bone, brass, ebony, etc. pins, but it is cheap experimenting. As I said before, I think this is a quite innovative re-design of acoustic bridge pins but I personally question the value of the results. Beside that, they just look weird on an acoustic guitar. Thanks, the guitar is beautiful otherwise, from what i can see from the installation instructions on the website, http://www.f1pick.com/powerpinassemblypage.html, it seems like it might be worth a try since i can install and remove them if they suck. The look doesnt bother me for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubee Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 It sure should not cost $400 to get a bridge plate just patched. Look it up, very common, and yours may be a patch candidate. Search UMGF etc. Your repair guy saying that new plates fail or ruin guitars is way off, that just ain't true. Not even close. Plate wear is common. Removing a gigantic plate tucked under braces is not easy but then...find a way to patch it. There are some great electric guitars w/o string thru body but for flattops that power pin thing looks like a very poor bandaid approach at best IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubee Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Oops, I see he was talking about patch failure possibilities. Even so, I disagree from my experience with vintage guitars & newer models. I've had plates patched too many times to remember & had a new guitar that needed it years ago. I've never had a plate patch fail. I haven't used this but on top of a patch I'd try this vs the power pin thing: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Bridges/Plate_Mate.html If you do get it fixed proper fitting pins + seating the string end correctly will extend the bridge plate life a bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 It sure should not cost $400 to get a bridge plate just patched. Look it up, very common, and yours may be a patch candidate. Search UMGF etc. Your repair guy saying that new plates fail or ruin guitars is way off, that just ain't true. Not even close. Plate wear is common. Removing a gigantic plate tucked under braces is not easy but then...find a way to patch it. There are some great electric guitars w/o string thru body but for flattops that power pin thing looks like a very poor bandaid approach at best IMO. Ahhh thanks man, he doesnt think he can patch it, he says its too far gone, needs to be replaced, maybe hes bsing me, i dont know. Im going to take it to another guy after what you said. I may just buy a set of the power pins just to try them out and see what happens, i can return them if they dont work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 Oops, I see he was talking about patch failure possibilities. Even so, I disagree from my experience with vintage guitars & newer models. I've had plates patched too many times to remember & had a new guitar that needed it years ago. I've never had a plate patch fail. I haven't used this but on top of a patch I'd try this vs the power pin thing: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Bridges/Plate_Mate.html If you do get it fixed proper fitting pins + seating the string end correctly will extend the bridge plate life a bunch. Maybe im an optimist, but it cant hurt to try the power pins , i do happen to like the way they look, and the quick stringing is important to me, i change them at least once a week, .Guess im not a traditionalist, as far as looks go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 One thing i dont like about the plate mate,is that it uses foam double stick tape to mount, , that has to deaden the sound because it is isolating the ball end contact with the bridge plate and the foam has to absorb lots of vibration, dont you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 I just wish they hadn't called them "power" pins....such a marketing tool..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace23 Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 I just wish they hadn't called them "power" pins....such a marketing tool..... Hah, I guess they needed to call them something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 I just looked at the Squier and the american P bass bridges, they look the same , am i missing something? The American P Bass strings go through the body first and then up over the saddles where the Squier goes horizontally, parallel with the body and the ball ends sit against the end of the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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