Replacing your guitar bridge pins will improve the looks of your guitar, and help improve sustain, clarity and tone.
Many players and guitar manufacturers attest that replacing your bridge pins is a simple, inexpensive, and non-intrusive way of enhancing aesthetics, stability and tone.
Thanks to technology, there are a myriad of options available to pick for your upgrade. We recommend that you pick those with tapered stems to avoid having to drill your bridge holes for the string mass.
The main types are:
Bone Bridge Pins:
Exotic bone materials are rare and expensive for obvious reasons, these pins are said to add a bit more bottom end and sustain.
Mammoth Ivory with Abalone 6pk
Talk about historic, these pins come from Fossilized Mammoth Ivory (FMI) and is very expensive. They feature great looking abalone on the heads and are known for impressive durability. Many professional players attribute improved sustain, volume, and richness with these Mammoth Ivory pins. Some even claim increased harmonic overtones which greatly improves guitar tone.
Manufacturer: Maurysmusic
Buffalo Horn with Abalone 6pK
The Buffalo Horn 6pk set is a black alternative to the usual light colored bone set. These expensive acoustic guitar bridge pins have beautiful abalone inlays that will definitely add aesthetic value to your acoustic. Many players swear that after installing, they had a warmer, mellower and muddier tone – which works great for rock music and other aggressive acoustic guitar styles.
Manufacturer: Maurysmusic
Metal Bridge Pins:
Metal as we all know is ultra sturdy, these sets add sparkle and high end chime to your acoustic guitar sound.
TiSonix Titanium AP-1
I’ve been hearing and reading good things about Titanium guitar saddles and bridge pins. These Titanium pins are light, virtually indestructible and have a modern aesthetic appeal. Titanium is said to offer exceptional tonal transfer, its micro-crystalline structure efficiently transmits vibration. This allows for improved sustain and clarity. TiSonix believes in Titanium so much that they offer unconditional money back guarantee.
Manufacturer: TiSonix
D’Andrea Brass Bridge Pins
These brass bridge pin sets are getting popular, players rave about its stability and cool aesthetics. It is relatively affordable and adds quite a difference to the look of your guitar. Brass material is used to increase clarity and sustain while brightening your tone. Acoustic guitarists that play with a loud band is said to benefit more of this added brightness.
Get the latest price & reviews at Amazon.com.
Wood Bridge Pins:
The more traditional wooden pins are known to add a touch of clarity and punch to your tone.
Taylor Ebony Bridge Pin Set
It will be hard to beat this bridge pin set in terms of value. For a little below ten bucks, you get great looking ebony pins with abalone inlays that is sure to enhance the look of your guitar. Taylor does not make any special tone changing claims on these pins but some would attest that it helped give the guitar better projection and volume. This is the most inexpensive way to improve both the looks and the sound of your acoustic.
Manufacturer: Taylor
Planet Waves Boxwood Pins
These organic looking boxwood pins are made from high-quality boxwood and is designed to last longer than ordinary plastic pins. Being wood, it fits better with many bridge slots and does not as easily slide as other expensive types. Aside from functionality, this set offers a quick and easy – entry level – upgrade into the world of tone pins. The usual feedback for theses tone pins include improved overall volume and clarity.
Get the latest price & reviews at Amazon.com.
Plastic Bridge Pins:
Modern plastic string fasteners provide balanced tone response. Some plastic materials like the Tusq – claims to mimic the properties of other materials to provide the same tone effect with plastic’s mechanical advantage.
Graph Tech Tusq Ivory
Tusq has been a popular and cheaper alternative material to organic bone. The Grap Tech Tusq technology is engineered to mimic organic material and at the same time removes the natural dead spots found on natural bone. Since they are synthetically made, each set are produced consistent with each other. Tusq material is known for providing a balanced increase in volume and sustain.
Get the latest price & reviews at Amazon.com.
Planet Waves ABS Set
The Planet Waves ABS Set is made of molded ABS thermoplastic and has a cool looking ivory dot inlay. This is one of the cheapest there is, and offers basic aesthetics, functionality and tone. ABS plastic however is super tough and gives you the peace of mind that your pins will not go rocketing to audiences during performance. Even with cheap pins like this, people have heard improvement over default plastic celluloid types.
Get the latest price & reviews at Amazon.com.
So there you have it – there’s a lot more to the humble bridge pin than you probably realized!
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