converting trapeze bridge to pinned bridge -- is it possible?

[DCBirdMan]

I got this awesome like-new mid 1960s B-25-12, in unheard of tobacco sunburst finish. Had a neck reset done and now it has killer low action, and sounds really good.

 

I have a K&K bridge plate pickup in my J 50 and it sounds great. So I had the same thing done for this B-25-12 and it doesn't sound good at all. Weak output, extraneous sounds, lo-fidelity, etc.

 

I think the reason is that with the trapeze tailpiece, strings don't have a lot of downward pressure on the bridge saddle as they would w/ pinned bridge, where they take a 90 degree turn.

 

It's said that the pinned bridge B-25-12 and B-45-12s sound better for this reason. Still the plain acoustic sound of this is ok, just the amplified sound isn't.

 

Have also heard it is possible for a skilled luthier to convert trapeze bridge to pinned bridge (provided you can find a B-25/B-45 pin bridge!)

 

Anyone heard of this being done? I could of course just put in a soundhole pickup, cheaper, etc.

 

But that gets back into the same hangup where you have to use nickel strings, as magnetic pickups just don't do well w/ bronze.

 

What say you all??

[duluthdan]

I have two magnetic soundhole pickups and have never noticed any issue with them picking up bronze strings. Fishman Rare Earth and Seymour Duncan Mini Mag.

[fp]

Does your B25 have the belly bridge or straight rectangular bridge with the tailpiece. If it's the belly bridge then it can be converted to a pin style. I had a 65 that this was done to.

[j45nick]

From everything I've read, the original pin bridges on the Gibson 12's were changed to trap tails because the additional string tension on the top and bridge was creating signficant structural problems. This would almost certainly be true if the 12-string and 6-string versions if the same guitar were braced in the same way.

 

For this reason, it might not be a good idea to do this on a guitar that is pushing 50 years old. If you were to pursue it, any good luthier can replicate the original 12-string pin bridge, although it might require a new bridge plate as well, which adds significantly to the complexity of the job.

 

You would be better off trying to find a string/pickup combination that gives you the results you want with the existing tailpiece/bridge combination. It's a lot cheaper, and there is no risk to the guitar.

[DCBirdMan]

Thanks for the advice. It's a straight rectangle bridge, but had thought of getting a belly up one as the pin bridge B25s had.

 

Still after talking it around and reading this, most are saying it's a big expensive job.. and even tho the guitar is like new, better to just experiment w/ different types of pickups if the under bridge plate K&K style really isn't working out, cause of the trapeze style bridge.

 

Acoustically it sounds as good as any B25- 12 , maybe better... it's just the pickup design and string anchoring design don't mesh well.

 

 

 

quote name='j45nick' timestamp='1347634161' post='1255169']

 

 

 

From everything I've read, the original pin bridges on the Gibson 12's were changed to trap tails because the additional string tension on the top and bridge was creating signficant structural problems. This would almost certainly be true if the 12-string and 6-string versions if the same guitar were braced in the same way.

 

For this reason, it might not be a good idea to do this on a guitar that is pushing 50 years old. If you were to pursue it, any good luthier can replicate the original 12-string pin bridge, although it might require a new bridge plate as well, which adds significantly to the complexity of the job.

 

You would be better off trying to find a string/pickup combination that gives you the results you want with the existing tailpiece/bridge combination. It's a lot cheaper, and there is no risk to the guitar.