Priority Four Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I lost my g string in the middle of a show last night and the bridge pin is somewhere in the venue or in some kid's pocket. Who knows. Anyway, I want to upgrade the plastic pins on my J45. They look cheap to me. I am reading that I may need to ream the bridge pin holes to accommodate new bone or ebony pins. Assuming I can sand them evenly, does it make more sense to fit the pins to the guitar rather than alter the guitar to fit the pins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Assuming I can sand them evenly, does it make more sense to fit the pins to the guitar rather than alter the guitar to fit the pins? Yes, absolutely. Buy pins the right size from someone like Colosi, and fine-tune the fit with sandpaper if necessary to get them to seat properly. I do it all the time. Do not ream the pin holes, as that is irreversible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priority Four Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 Mucho Gracias for your reply and for not hitting the hanging curveball I left out there. "lost my g string" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 It is usually better to have G strings flung AT you when you are on stage, rather than launching your own into the crowd. Here is the link to Bob Collosi's site - he will provide you with the right size. Have bought saddles, bridge pins and shims from him - very knowledgable and highly regarded. http://www.guitarsaddles.com/gen_info.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsharp Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I've also bought bridge pins and a saddle from him. When it comes time for the exact fit - just be patient and take a little off at a time with fine sandpaper. It takes awhile and you don't want to take more than necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I've also bought bridge pins and a saddle from him. When it comes time for the exact fit - just be patient and take a little off at a time with fine sandpaper. It takes awhile and you don't want to take more than necessary. I probably spent at least 10 minutes on each pin when I put Colosi bone pins in my OOO-28. I actually went back a year later and spent a similar amount of time seating them fully after deciding I didn't like the pin skirt sitting quite so high. Just takes patience, and small strips of sandpaper. I ended up wrapping the paper around the pin, and turning the pin inside the paper using my thumb and index finger on the ball of the pin. I've also done this using emery boards when I had to modify the pin taper, then finishing with the "strip and spin" technique. Bone is a lot harder than plastic or wood, so you have to be patient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarLight Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 I lost my g string in the middle of a show last night and the bridge pin is somewhere in the venue or in some kid's pocket. Who knows. Anyway, I want to upgrade the plastic pins on my J45. They look cheap to me. I am reading that I may need to ream the bridge pin holes to accommodate new bone or ebony pins. Assuming I can sand them evenly, does it make more sense to fit the pins to the guitar rather than alter the guitar to fit the pins? I don't blame you for wanting to replace those cheap looking plastic Gibson bridge pins with the mold line on them. They not only look cheap. They ARE cheap! ....I had the same cheesy pins on my $3100 Gibson Hummingbird...after all, why expect Gibson to put quality pins on low cost guitars like these? Yea right!......switched them to Ebony Abalone...Plastic pins are likely made in China and probably cost Gibson a few cents per pin, if that......talk about CHEAP. Geez... Hey why complain?..after all, we only pay Gibson $2199 for a J45! ....Deal right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 whatever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Yeah , 'whatever' just about sums it up indeed ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Since there are lots of pin choices out there to customize your $3100 H'bird - if Gibson put a $50 set on - 3/4 of the buyers would swap them out anyway. And inevitably - someone would complain that they don't understand why Gibson puts such expensive pins on the $3150 H'bird when they know they're going to be replaced. Back to the actual point - as noted. you should not ream out your bridge pin hole. That is irreversible. You can always get a new set of pins. The Gibson pins are all a standard size as you have probably already figured out from Coosi's web site. I got a set of bone w/Abalone inset last month for my J45. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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