Tusq bridge pins, not too bad.......

[iwalktheline]

hey guys, just wanted to share my opinion on the new tusq bridge pins I put on my Hummingbird. When I bought her in may she had rosewood pins in her which in my honest opinion(doesn't mean I'm right) sounded like they muted her a bit. So maybe about a month ago I replaced those with bone pins and immediately heard a difference. Then, I already heard people talk about tusq before I kept reading stuff about how it would make the guitar sound even better so I threw out $15 and took a shot. The pins came today and I put them on (did not change strings) and my ohh my, she sounds soooo much better. I really did not think it would do anything but wow, was I wrong. I might have to invest in 3 more sets of tusq pins for my other guitars. It was a pleasant surprise and I'm glad I took a shot. Just wanted to share.

[E-minor7]

Absolutely interesting -

And yeps, you're right about them rosies keeping the riiing down - I typically use them if mids are too boomy or trebs too sharp.

Now tusq could be in the periscope - still you don't mention the improvement in detail.

[iwalktheline]

Absolutely interesting -

And yeps, you're right about them rosies keeping the riiing down - I typically use them if mids are too boomy or trebs too sharp.

Now tusq could be in the periscope - still you don't mention the improvement in detail.

Sorry, I think I'm still in a bit of shock. For my guitar it just had a major improvement in volume and each individual string just seems to ring out more. Right now it does not seem to have any of the dead tones it had with the rosewood and even the bone after awhile. It just seems like a sharper and more brighter and volume tone. I hope it lasts but, it really did seem to bring her to life. I realize all guitars are different but It helped my hummingbird out big time.

[E-minor7]

As said, I might try to find some.

Already upgraded from plant-plast to bone (tea with honey dyed bone as we're talkin' H-bird).

Enjoy -

[jedzep]

Pin replacement is a funny thing though. I was skeptical about all the tales of change/improvement in tone due to this seemingly small alteration. Also equipped three of my finest acoustics with tusq and was not disappointed but just a little underwhelmed with the change. Recently though, I had the depressing experience of selling my old J45. Got a very good price however and told the buyer I would put the original plastic bridgepins back on. Well, you can probably guess, the thing sounded significantly better with the old pins on. That tells me something regarding physics, and I guess we're all probably tired of this subject, that the way the ball end of the string nestles in against the bridge plate is the most significant, maybe the only element involved in tone down in there. If strings and plates were designed such that strings were fed up through the bridge from inside the top and couldn't pass through the small plate and bridge hole, eliminating the need for pins, this debate wouldn't exist. I'm becoming less of a believer in bridge pin impact.

[blindboygrunt]

i'm kinda with you jed ... but still interested in it a little .... as with all avenues of discussion on here.

i have changed the pins a couple of times .. just out of nosiness and also for aesthetics .... just like a new brand of strings every once in a while .

i noticed nothing at all between the original , tusq and now bone ones ... i am baffled as to how only half the people notice a major change , and i get nothing !?

all i can think is maybe as you suggest that the new pins allow a better meeting of the ball end and the guitar top ?

[ParlourMan]

Pin replacement is a funny thing though....

 

....I'm becoming less of a believer in bridge pin impact.

 

I'm with ye's boys... Although I do firmly subscribe to the following train of thought:

 

What can I buy to make my guitar sound better? ...some guitar lessons!

[BluesKing777]

Lessons?

 

Not much to talk about on the forum if you get lessons....currently I'm doing lessons till the end of time.

 

 

Now Tusq pins - I have some on a couple of guitars but I don't really hear much difference from the plastic pins they replaced.

 

Bone pins to make the guitar ring out, ebony pins to stop it ringing too much...worked so far on most of my Gibsons.

 

My J45 Standard has been annoying me and is about to get some changes - bone nut to replace the GraphTech nut, Bone Saddle to replace the TusQ saddle and the Baggs in a Bag pickup has fallen off it's perch one time too many and will be replaced with a personal standby - the Fishman passive under saddle. That is the plan anyway.

 

 

BluesKing777.

[ParlourMan]

Lessons? Not much to talk about on the forum if you get lessons....

 

True enough, but many guitar forums show the same thing, endless GAS, endless pursuit of the unattainable, a bunch of 'thrill of the chase' merchants if we stand back and look at it from a different perspective. But nearly all forums have the same undercurrent, the need to improve, it's much easier to improve the gear list, the accessories, the elegance and calibre of the chat you can take part in.. the not so easy part is improving guitar skills.

 

By example, a thread suggesting that sneezing in your guitar will help to open it up if you're a loud sneezer *, will attract a ridiculous amount of views and end in pages and pages of discussion... a thread containing some musical performance will get 50-60 views and a couple of trophy comments. A thread debating "which is the most overpriced brand" can generate 10 pages, a thread of similar timing talking about performance, technique and theory will yield perhaps 100 views and a token comment.

 

* The ridiculous sounding threads above are actually real and very active threads on another popular guitar forum.

 

I'm not knocking it, I'm as amused by it and as inclined to offer a light-hearted tuppence-worth as the next man. Nonetheless it is easy to begin to support the notion that many would rather talk about the intricate details associated with doing it, rather than actually doing it.

[jedzep]

I'm with ye's boys... Although I do firmly subscribe to the following train of thought:

 

What can I buy to make my guitar sound better? ...some guitar lessons!

 

 

Ha! True words. Interesting that you say that. One thing I have noticed now that I've reduced the clutter of acoustic guitars down from 13 to 2, not counting the lap slide Oahu type thingy. My playing time and concentration has increased, and it seems my skills and learning curve got a little spike as a result of just having only the choice of a small bod Gibson and bigger d'nought to pull down from the wall. My DVD lessons came out of the closet and back into circulation. I think I'd love to have a teacher though. Ana Vidovic maybe. Free room and board if she's willing.

[jedzep]

Lessons?

 

Not much to talk about on the forum if you get lessons....currently I'm doing lessons till the end o

 

Now Tusq pins - I have some on a couple of guitars but I don't really hear much difference from the plastic pins they replaced.

 

Bone pins to make the guitar ring out, ebony pins to stop it ringing too much...worked so far on most of my Gibsons.

 

My J45 Standard has been annoying me and is about to get some changes - bone nut to replace the GraphTech nut, Bone Saddle to replace the TusQ saddle and the Baggs in a Bag pickup has fallen off it's perch one time too many and will be replaced with a personal standby - the Fishman passive under saddle. That is the plan anyway.

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

My son's teacher got hold of him and reminded him that he was willing to be paid for discussing the blues and Jimmy Page, but until he mastered his scales and increased his chord repertoire he'd just be noodling around forever. It got through to him and made him a solid player.

[E-minor7]

I'll continue to believe in the diffences for quite a while - but when I say rose, it could just as well be ebony. Wood is wood is wood.

 

"A rose is a rose is a rose"

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gertrude Stein

[blindboygrunt]

PLEASE don't take this the wrong way , i'm glad you hear a difference , i'm nott a who's wrong and who's right kinda guy .... but why do you think you get a difference and i dont ?

 

there must be something ... maybe i've just got useless ears , lord knows it might explain my playing ... anyone got a theory on this ? cant be the guitars because some of the 'believers' have more than one guitar as do the non-believers ..

[E-minor7]

Apart from 2 classes at 14, I never took lessons.

Had the feeling the trip would be more satisfying without it - slower maybe, but grander. Like climbing Everest, , , , without oxygen-gear.

[ParlourMan]

Apart from 2 classes at 14, I never took lessons.

Had the feeling the trip would be more satisfying without it - slower maybe, but grander. Like climbing Everest, , , , without oxygen-gear.

 

I've never had a lesson by a professional teacher either, my first guitar came with a chord book, the rest I've hacked together from listening and watching. I'm fairly sure I'd be operating at a higher level of mediocrity than I am now if had gone down a more structured route. I'd say being forced to do the boring stuff, scales & modes really pays off in the longrun. When you see those who've been down the more structured path they do tend to be miles and miles ahead. Faster, slicker and more aware.

 

I don't depend on it to eat though, so my motivations are at hobby/interest levels. If I was depending on it to fill my belly on a daily basis I guess I'd considerably more motivated.

[EuroAussie]

It is interesting. Ive always had the experience that bone helps in every way and normally give all my guitars a thorough boning in all three ways, saddle, nut and pins.

 

BUT when I replaced the plastic pins with bone on my HB TV I was shocked but the tone. Yes, it did become more clear, but not in a good way. It lost the nectar, as you say, muted, property that the Bird is round for. I really did not like the tone. Sounded like a generic Gibson.

 

Back came the plastic pins and the nectar returned. It was a good lesson in not making assumptions.

 

With the AJ Im so pleased with the tone as it is that I wont be going through with a boning makeover.

 

Regarding lessons: Our lead gutarist is actually my guitar teacher, thats how we met. I record the lessons and they have been beneficial for sure. I made a deal with him in that I lent him the money so he could get a the Furch Jumbo he plays with us on stage to be repaid in lessons. It was a win / win deal.

 

I think guitar lessons are best suited for intermediate students, so that you can focus on details rather than the basics which can all be learned online these days.

[E-minor7]

PLEASE don't take this the wrong way , i'm glad you hear a difference , i'm nott a who's wrong and who's right kinda guy .... but why do you think you get a difference and i dont ?

there must be something ... maybe i've just got useless ears , lord knows it might explain my playing ... anyone got a theory on this ? cant be the guitars because some of the 'believers' have more than one guitar as do the non-believers ..

I agree there might be a psychological factor – but that would count for a lot of other (guitar related) issues too. In fact generally in every thinkable field.

The reason I (and others) hear it while you don't could have to do with how close we listen in. I have noticed that sometimes the consensus about the level of nuance on these pages is deliciously fine and other times much more rustic – it varies from thread to thread, collective mood to mood. Some of us listen 'insanely' sensitive - which means severe feinschmeckeri - and have a good time doin' that, others exist on more 'normal' wavelengths. The schmeckeri can be too much, no doubt – ask anyone who has been working in studios how limits of sonic normality can slip into the mad for no real rational reason or purpose.

And apropos studios, there is one simple way to check the theme, isn't there. An A/B recording. Then again the strings change a hair when loosened and restrung – and nothing can be judged with a brand new set of steel, uuuuaahhh.

 

Important thing for the Board is to keep exchanging – many a statement will fly, but eventually a pattern might occur. Thinking twice, it's already there.

 

 

[blindboygrunt]

I agree there might be a psychological factor – but that would count for a lot of other (guitar related) issues too. In fact generally in every thinkable field.

The reason I (and others) hear it while you don't could have to do with how close we listen in. I have noticed that sometimes the consensus about the level of nuance on these pages is deliciously fine and other times much more rustic – it varies from thread to thread, collective mood to mood. Some of us listen 'insanely' sensitive - which means severe feinschmeckeri - and have a good time doin' that, others exist on more 'normal' wavelengths. The schmeckeri can be too much, no doubt – ask anyone who has been working in studios how limits of sonic normality can slip into the mad for no real rational reason or purpose.

And apropos studios, there is one simple way to check the theme, isn't there. An A/B recording. Then again the strings change a hair when loosened and restrung – and nothing can be judged with a brand new set of steel, uuuuaahhh.

 

Important thing for the Board is to keep exchanging – many a statement will fly, but eventually a pattern might occur. Thinking twice, it's already there.

 

 

 

that seems to be a decent explaination , i'm fully willing to accept that i maybe just dont hear things that others do ....

[E-minor7]

Why not just be aware bbg, your hearing might vary from day to day, , , and develope with the consciousness.

 

Glad you sat that mark on the thread EA. Remembered your experience while writing the above and hoped you'ld add a word.

I still need to try out the great return (talking H-bird). Think it'll happen when these newly put on Martin Marquis' fall down.

[Run]

Recently received these bridge pins for only $6.95...they fitted perfectly on my SWD (better than the original plastic ones did)...didn't notice any major sound improvement but they are made with very hard plastic (don't know if it's tusk) and they are ivory colored.

 

http://www.guitarele...ridge-Pins.html

[bobby b]

I've tried Tusq, I found the overall tone to be brighter... but a bit much too bright for my liking. I have a really nice set of bone pins that just seemed to dampen things. I switch them in from time to time but get the same results each time. To this day the stock plastic pins just plain work great, the guitar sounds great with them. Balanced, open, responsive and chimey with great sustain.

 

Go figure plastic for the win.

 

All in all, whatever works for you works for YOU. glad your happy with the switch, play on brotha. :)

[michaeljohnr]

Recently received these bridge pins for only $6.95...they fitted perfectly on my SWD (better than the original plastic ones did)...didn't notice any major sound improvement but they are made with very hard plastic (don't know if it's tusk) and they are ivory colored.

 

http://www.guitarele...ridge-Pins.html

 

 

 

I purchased those pins for my J45 and had to send them back because they were completely undersized for the holes.

[Robbie1299]

How do I find original tusk bridge pins for a 1965 southern jumbo? I don’t want new ones. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

7 minutes ago, Robbie1299 said:

How do I find original tusk bridge pins for a 1965 southern jumbo? I don’t want new ones. 

This thread is from 2012. Tusq is man made fake Ivory and I am not sure when it was first make, but I doubt it was around in 1965, unless you are looking for elephant tusk pins which may be illegal to buy or hard to find.

[E-minor7]

1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

This thread is from 2012. Tusq is man made fake Ivory and I am not sure when it was first make, but I doubt it was around in 1965, unless you are looking for elephant tusk pins which may be illegal to buy or hard to find.

Yups - tusq is a modern concept.

1 hour ago, Robbie1299 said:

How do I find original tusk bridge pins for a 1965 southern jumbo? I don’t want new ones. 

1965 would be plastic. And original pins from that era may be crooked and bent, , , like almost melted. But good luck.