houndman55 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 This is an age old pet peeve of mine. Why does like 90 % of all steel string guitars use bridge pins? I mean when you're just strumming along it's fine but when you gotta change a string it's a pain in the ***. You can get the pins out with your fingers, you gotta take a tool or something clap it hard like hell and potentially break the pins. I mean check out Ovation guitars, they don't do that, they have holes in the bridge like on any normal electric guitar, heck even Epiphones new line of PRO acoustic gutiars or whatever don't use bridge pins. So there's like no excuse, it very well possible to stop using bridge pins but because it's some kind of dumb tradition or something they won't stop. Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Let me be the first who say 'break-angle'. Don't know for sure how much this plays in on a scientific level, but I won't stand solo with this. Your point is taken, but quite sure I'm not alone with my fondness of pins either. . Not as fond as the people who live here on Pin Street though - - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I've had takamine with pinless bridge , lowden use them to great effect. certainly nothing wrong with lowdens. but they don't sound like a Gibson. .. or a Martin. .. I don't know if it's down to that aspect or how much it is , but I don't find changing strings so much of a hassle with pins that I would want rid of them. ... buy your self a 99 pence string winder (useful in its own right) and you'll have a pin remover . If youre breaking pins while changing strings you're doing it wrong ! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 As has been pointed out, any cheap plastic string winder comes with a pin removal device. Most of the time, you don't even need it. If you just push the ball end of the string string down the pin hole, you can usually pull the pin out once the ball end is no longer engaged with the bridgeplate, if your don't have the proper tool handy. I've got guitars with pins, trapeze tails, stop bars, and bridges that you have to tie the strings to. Pins are neither easier nor harder to deal with than the others. And besides, without endless discussions on the sonic properties and proper material for bridge pins here, what would we have to talk about? (and Wily, you don't need to answer that. It's just a rhetorical question.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Houndman, I agree completely. I discarded my bridge pins. Now I just use the endpin for all 6 strings. Pull out the pin, cram in the strings one at a time and force the endpin back in. I figure it saves me 8 or 9 minutes each string change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 which translates to nearly 20 minutes a year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Houndman, I agree completely. I discarded my bridge pins. Now I just use the endpin for all 6 strings. Pull out the pin, cram in the strings one at a time and force the endpin back in. I figure it saves me 8 or 9 minutes each string change. give it a month and someone will have that on ebay for 19.99 brilliant idea !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I'd suggest that Gibson already is doing some experimentation with the pinless bridge. A new Epi line lacks them and has a bridge similar to the old Ovation pinless bridge - or others. I think a case might be made that a pin bridge adds mass to the top and has an effect on tone. Whether any provable effect is "good" or "bad" tends to be a matter of individual choice. IMHO on an AE - and all of my acoustics have been AE since the early '70s and the first Ovation true AEs - it's not enough to consider. Ditto if a guitar is miked and one messes a bit with a good mike and the PA settings. I'll wager though that either string choice or technique differences will play a larger role. The pinless bridge would require somewhat different bracing, I'll also wager, for the better sound overall compared to a pin bridge. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Harmony Sovereigns, of course, came with pinless bridges in the 1950s and 1960s. But if you think pin bridges are a pain you should try those "wrap around" bridges Kay used on some of their guitars in the 1950s. These brdges strike so much fear in me I automatically assume I will be replacing it. Stringing a 12 string though will give you a whole new perspective on the string change thing. Make you appreciate a 6 string guitar no matter what system you are using to hold the strings in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 The pinless bridge would require somewhat different bracing, I'll also wager, for the better sound overall compared to a pin bridge. m I wonder if it would be an issue of different bridge plate rather than bracing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Yes to that too... but I'm guessing that the different type of bridge plate could (should?) make a diff on bracing too - depending on what one wants. As for the old Harmony Sovereigns... A girlfriend had one waaaaaaaaay back when in the '60s and I played it a few times. Not a bad instrument at all but I don't recall the type of bridge without Googling or your info. <grin> I guess my interests weren't in the guitar as much as pickin' and grinnin'. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 String break angle. Some people have a one track mind: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I consider the pin style bridge to be a superior design from a structural stability standpoint. The ball ends directly grab the bridge plate, and tension is widely distributed. The bridge itself does not have to carry the brunt of the burden. Pinless bridges are a very different ballgame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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