how to pinned classical bridge

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Greg Martin
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how to pinned classical bridge

Post by Greg Martin »

im trying to get info on how to make a pinned bridge.I can not figure what to use for the pins a rivit??? or??
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Bryan Bear
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Re: how to pinned classical bridge

Post by Bryan Bear »

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking. Do you not want to use traditional bridge pins (as are commonly found on steel string guitars), or are you designing something different?
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Waddy Thomson
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Re: how to pinned classical bridge

Post by Waddy Thomson »

I think, though I could be wrong here, he is talking about the Gilbert style classical guitar bridge that uses a single metal pin for each of the strings, instead of a bone saddle. Each pin is scooped out and rounded at the edges of the scoop to accommodate the string. The pins can be located to correctly intonate each string at the bridge. David Schramm seems to have the most information on the Gilbert pinned bridge, as Gilbert was his mentor. He even has one for sale now. What I don't know is how deep the holes are or if they are slanted. The bridge style is similar to a Simon Marty bridge, and a few others, names I can't remember right now.
David King
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Re: how to pinned classical bridge

Post by David King »

As far as what material to make the pins out of I would experiment with whatever you can find. If you used say an M3x0.5 metric screw you can get those in brass, low carbon steel, stainless steel, high grade steel, aluminum, delrin, nylon, and possibly even PEEK. It wouldn't be that hard to thread Graphtech's tusq material. You might end up mixing and matching to even out the tone across the strings. The threaded pins would let you raise and lower each string easily and independently and the wide heads give you more room to adjust intonation. Start with the McMaster catalogue. Choose a pin diameter and go with the finest threads available in that dia.

That said a tapered pin into a tapered hole would give you a much better mechanical connection and potentially better tone as a result.

Here's the Gilbert pinned bridge page from David Schramm's website: http://www.schrammguitars.com/gilbertbridge.html
Alan Carruth
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Re: how to pinned classical bridge

Post by Alan Carruth »

David King wrote:
"That said a tapered pin into a tapered hole would give you a much better mechanical connection and potentially better tone as a result."

I very much doubt that.
Greg Martin
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Re: how to pinned classical bridge

Post by Greg Martin »

sorry for the vague,post. on the harp guitar build im obsessing about , i want to use ball end strings,not classical traditional tied strings the super trebles and sub bass strings all want to be ball end. so i thought a bridge design with small pins embedded into the rosewood, set on an angle would be a way to make for easy and strong attachment points.
while writing this i remembered that bigsby trems use pins to mount the ball ends to, so it is doable. anyone done this on acoustics or modern classicals?
David King you suggested a tapered pin and hole is that even possible in such a small size ,i like that idea though,where would you get such an item?
Greg Martin
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Re: how to pinned classical bridge

Post by Greg Martin »

Mike Doolins version is very cool.http://www.doolinguitars.com/articles/bridgejigs/
David King
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Re: how to pinned classical bridge

Post by David King »

Greg, I think would stick with Mike and Jeff Elliott's system as it obviously works well and is easy enough to implement.
Alan Carruth
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Re: how to pinned classical bridge

Post by Alan Carruth »

I second the vote for the Elliot system. I used it a couple of years ago on a harp guitar, and it allows you a lot of freedom to position the bridge without worrying about hitting a brace with a pin hole.

On the other hand, if this is to be a nylon string guitar, why not use a tieblock as is common on Classicals? You'll have a wider selection of strings if you don't need them to have ball ends.
Clay Schaeffer
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Re: how to pinned classical bridge

Post by Clay Schaeffer »

Another option might be to use slots with the back of the bridge undercut to catch and hide the ball ends (or knots if you use ball less strings).
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