Are Brass Bridge Pins GARBAGE?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 23 лип 2024
- Acoustic Guitar Bridge Pin Showdown | Brass Pins Vs Ebony Pins
Support Me on Patreon! / jtravlos
My Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/48AkK...
Tags: Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Bridge Pins, Taylor Guitar, Comparison, Elixir Strings, Acoustic Accessories.
Bridge Pins: amzn.to/3jxDRIe
Elixir Strings: amzn.to/3jrvUUI
0:00 Intro Lick
0:08 Welcome
2:34 Strumming
3:27 Arpeggio
4:05 Final Thoughts
Hey what’s up everyone Im Jeremy and welcome to the channel. I wanted to experiment with different types of bridge pins to see if they made any type of difference in the tone of my guitar. For some reason I landed on brass bridge pins mainly because I think they were the most expensive ones I could find on Amazon. More expensive is always better right? That was at least my line of thinking.
I currently have ebony bridge pins which were the ones that came stock on this taylor 812ce guitar. I guess they sounded fine, I mean, I dont really know what they sounded like which was really why I wanted to try this experiment. So, if you have seen any of my string showdown videos you will know exactly how this video goes. I’ll go through several examples of myself playing these strings and pit them back to back so you can hear the difference.
I am using elixir nano web phosphor bronze strings in custom light gauge size and I recorded both examples the exact same way. I recorded the audio first and then I played back the audio so I could fake play for the video. I think that is important to know because I tend to have people say that since the shots look slightly different then the mic placement must be different. Not the case, everything was micd the exact same way. Before we get started subscribe to the channel and leave a comment if you can hear any type of difference. Or, just let me know which one you prefer. Lets do this.
So brass bridge pins….Stark difference right? I didn’t think there would be much of any difference because c’mon, how could such a small guitar part change the tone that much? To me, it was a negative influence on the guitar. I am not even really sure on what words I need to use to describe it. It had a metallic sound that also sounded brittle and harsh. I know you can’t hear this at home but I could also hear a dramatic volume increase at the bridge of the guitar just sounded unbalanced. I guess I never thought of this before but a guitar should be balanced instead of all the volume coming from one part of the guitar. Anyway, let me know what you think. What kind of pins are on your guitar?
Thats all i got, dont forget to subscribe to the channel and give me a thumbs up if you liked the video. Also, you can always support me on patreon or check out my spotify channel linked in the description. See ya next time.
Music
IRZ10OIKHU5B1JUL
HPZOA3PNN41MBX5A
You're right in concluding it gives more "metallic feel" to the sound, overall. But, that's exactly what I like about it.
Yo! Way warmer and rounder with the brass.. I’ve been thinking about a set.. I’m sold now.
I put brass pins in my 1977 Takamine F400 12 string. It is one of 5 acoustic 12 strings I own. The guitar has been totally overhauled and refretted, and hangs on the wall next to a 2014 D12-28.Martin as well as others. The octave strings actually ride across the ball of the brass pin head on the way to the saddle and I think that is part of her awesome sound. She is my least expensive 12, cost $100 as a basket case in a pawn shop (before the rebuild). She is now my 'best" 12 string and I play her out weekly. The Martin sounds slightly richer and a bit boomy, but the action and playability of the Takamine are unbeatable following the neck reset and other work. I added a nice pickup in the sound hole and she projects wonderfully on stage. She gets a lot of love from other players as well as audience for her sound.
I guess it's a she
I listened using a the high end Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro studio headphones and it was very clear that the brass pins reduce the low end while brightening up the high mids and and top end frequencies. On your particular acoustic guitar I much preferred the ebony pins.However, in a recording environment one might want to use the brass pins to have the guitar cut through better in the mix or perhaps double track using one take for the bras and one for the ebony then blend together as required for the acoustic to properly sit in the overall stereo mix. I suppose an ebony, brass, bone, tusk, rosewood, copper, etc. would have it's place of use depending on what acoustic guitar timbre one is striving for.
Wow I listened the comparison using Sony's Linkbuds S with all volume up
I did heard big differences between both.
Bone is more "crispy" whereas bronce feels more "profund".
Hi Jeremy, I’m not sure what kind of real bridge pins do Taylor Guitar recommend? Ebony or Brass? I have a 224ce Koa Deluxe Special Edition and I’ve black satin bridge pins chosen by Taylor Guitars company.
Probably Ebony. Stick with that.
@@JTravlos Hi Jeremy, I saw your Instagram and it says you from Maryland, I went to Washington DC for some days last week to see White House, I stay in NJ but I’m originally from Singapore. Washington DC was fun.
The Ebony pins had a warmer tone. The brass pins were more Tenney. Truth is you have a really nice guitar enjoy it.
Thanks for the vid! I'd say the biggest difference is the weight slowing down the top. I used to use brass on my 000 worked quite well but been happy with the ebony lately. Hmmm might swap back and have another go. :)
Yea, sort of similar but I tried those martin luxe bridge pins on my taylor 812 and didnt like them too much. But then I put them on my Mahogany GS mini and lt made the guitar sing. So yea I think it has a lot to do with controlling the top.
@@JTravlos I'll have to have a look at those pins :). Definitely depends on the guitar as you say. So I quickly swapped back to the brass before the gig last night and it's a massive difference on my 000, scoops the tone, adds clarity and punch to the bass and also increases the attack. They'll stay in there for me :). Funny because I felt my sound wasn't as good as it used to be haha.
@@clintwhite3021 Nice. Here are the luxe pins. Much more subtle for like 10 times the price lol. I generally like a bright guitar but the brass just pushed my taylor into a territory that I couldnt bear it. I checked out your channel and I really like you guitar. You based out of austrailia?
Greg E: My near 40 year old Maton CW80 slowly became so mid range the highs that people noticed and commented on faded over the years. I now use 80/20 Bright bronze strings and brass bridge pins. Back to where you once were the bass still prominent but the trebles now shimmer the dull/flat sound nearly gone
Great insight!
Brass pins sound metallic, louder and brighter than evony ones but although ur beautiful taylor with picea top sounds much better with organic evony pins for me i think brass pins would work very well in an all mahogany guitar. Great video Jeremy keep doing!
That is a really interesting point. Mahogany has a dark sound so maybe brass would brighten it up a little bit. I have a taylor gs mini and i never loved the sound of it so maybe that would be a good experiment. Thanks for the comment!
Indeed. I have all mahogany guitar & changed to brass pins, now brings out the highs to go with the mid & deep tones. It's a nice rounded sound 👌
I have a set in my Amazon cart, if there too loud for me, what other would you recommend? I still want a really bright sound
I very much liked the Ebony pins, however I use brass pins on my Acoustic's ( 2 of them so far, good video 😊😊😊
Nice video and I completely agree with your conclusion. I put brass pins on 6 of my guitars and will be taking them off, they definitely look good and change the sound to a bit bell or metallic like ,also they seem to make the guitar a bit louder but from the bridge area. I dont think that suites most guitars especially natural pore woody sounding guitars.
Yea right? Weird how is added all that volume by the saddle. I liked the Martin Luxe pins a lot more.
are Brass pins good for adding sound to guitar bases?
I dont think it helped in that regard.
what is the best determination of guitar string height from fingerboard?
I like the informal way... Adjust your truss rod so that your strings are low enough but dont buzz. I like really low action so I'll make an adjustment and then play. If the strings dont buzz I'll adjust the truss rod even further until the strings do buzz. Once they buzz I raise the height just a little bit so the buzzing stops.
@@JTravlos ohhh thanks.. i think I need cut my bridge saddle use sandpaper coz my neck straight and normal but string to high 😅
@@muhammadfitriidris4381 once it gets to that point I just take it to a luthier. I tried sanding down my saddle once and I messed it up lol.
@@muhammadfitriidris4381 The truss rod is not strictly speaking there to adjust action. It's simply to force desired tension and curvature on the neck. If there's a large amount of relief (dip), then yes, tightening the rod will lower the action in the middle (lowest) point of the fretboard. But what you typically want is just enough relief to accommodated the vibrational radius of the strings. I always set it to nearly straight myself.
Simple way to adjust saddle/string height by hand: Measure at the 12th fret with a 64ths ruler. If using hand tools, and not digital calipers, you can use mm but mm are too big to get simple integers like 3, 4, 5/64 etc. American metric is best for action imo. Now a really low action is 3/64" high e, 4/64" low e. That's what I use. You will get some low E buzzing at that height, but can play around it. And fingerstyle produces less buzz than picking, so factor that in. If you really like to whack the low E without buzz, you should keep it no less than maybe 5/64" to 4/64" (E to e).
Saddles are pretty much always angled to produce about a 1/64" difference from E to e. So lowering the action should be based on a straight line that is parallel to the existing saddle base. Factory string height is often about a 6/64" - 5/64" taper. For every 1/64" you want to reduce the overall height, remove 2x that from the base of the saddle. So if you want to reduce the action by 1/64" you need to remove 2/64" of saddle. This is because of the pitch of the strings and the 12th fret being the middle of the scale.
An easy trick I discovered is to slip a business card between the strings and and the first and second frets. If it just fits, your action will be very light. 6:38 6:38
It’s hard to get the complexities listening on you tube through a mic in my opinion. But it does have more metal brassy sound. One might say more treble coming through and louder at the expense of the balance on tone. Sweet guitar.
I don't really see what the fuss is regarding different pins. I maybe have tin ears, but I never heard a difference. There's also some experimental evidence by Alan Carruth which suggests that once you get the the saddle, that's it - that's where the real energy transfer takes place. I've also listened to a number pinless bridges (most famously Lowden), and the energy transfer seems just fine. That said, your conclusion is good. See how they sound to you.
I went into this with really low expectations but I was really surprised to hear a difference at least in real life/ off mic. It sounded "metallic" and I guess it did transfer a lot more energy to the saddle because I could hear more sound coming from the saddle as apposed to just generally hearing the sound from the entire guitar resonating. Pretty interesting. They were really cheap so if you every felt experimental you should try them but then maybe just return them back to amazon if you don't like them.
Yes it seems Martin & all the other top manufacturers have been getting it wrong for years……..aren’t they idiots? Some people will believe anything you say especially if your a preacher or a politician 🙃
Personal preference. There is a difference, which is cool. Probably good to keep in mind if you do some 2-track recording to keep the guitar sounds separated and distinguishable.
The main difference is from weighing down the bridge.... It's the exact opposite of what a luthor will suggest to do. If you want louder and a pleasant way try bone or tusq. Sometimes people even split their bridge pins between matching (close enough) tusq and ebony. For string volume balance. Tusq on the wound springs... Ebony on the unwound.
The brass tone down the trebles of your Taylor in a nice balanced way. I think they suit (also according to string choice).
Brass def don't work with any guitar, just some that can be overly bright.
Thanks for demo.
I tried to find one thing in your comment that kind of made sense, and failed miserably
WTF are you going on about?
@@IRequireMedication Well, there's always one village idiot, but maybe you're used to that. So I'll explain. First it's assumed you play a guitar, or know something about them.
1. So we are discussing guitars, discussing how brass bridge affect tone. Got that?
2. Brass pins "tone down" trebles. Finding that difficult? Taylors are known to be overly bright guitars in comparison with many other guitars. Brass tends to decrease the brightness, in my opinion. And yes, I have them on some of my own guitars and I have experimented with many different combinations. I'm not just guessing. There's a lot of mass and weight in brass over other pin materials, so it makes some sense.
3. I thought brass pins suited the Taylor demonstrated, but that also depends on choice of strings which also have a pronounced effect on tone.
4. Brass pins don't suit all guitars, but can affect trebles on some guitars.
Got that simpleton? Maybe next time just ask if you don't understand, don't be a troll, and don't be rude. I was just casting an opinion.
i put one brass pin on the forth d string ,the rest were plastic ,the brass one was screwed into a bridge doctor truss and the tone changed quite a bit to the better ,maybe will change the rest to ebony or bone ,so try mixing possibly might get the less metalic sound
That's interesting. I think someone else in the comments had some good results from mixing too.
do you have and opinion on bridge pins that have a hole on top that the string goes through rather than goes beneath the pin through the slot ?@@JTravlos
The proof it makes a difference is that your playing changed styles to accommodate! Better mid-range tone, for sure. I use bone pins on slotted bridge, old style Martin way!
Only the player will be able to hear the difference I have an epiphone lbenez &alverez and I have experimented with them all IHave found that when the right combination is found and it sounds right to you anyone that plays will like your giutar much better than before
Ebony pins struck my attention. Definitely ebony was the best sounding.
Yea, brass didnt sound good to me.
I use brass pins on my Larrivee D-3 and it sounds warm pronounced and well projected. it depends on the guitar. Your model Taylor tends to sound tinny and mid range to begin with as do most of the Taylor models in the last 10 yrs. it completely makes sense why the Ebony pins mellow your Taylor much better than brass. In my case, the brass enhanced the sound in a good way.
Like you I changed to brass and never turned back😊
Back to Ebony for me!
Wonder how it would sound when you use different pins for each string 😇
Thats an idea!
I've tried every bridge pin known to man and I keep going back to plastic actually I haven't tried wood yet
huge difference in sound love the way the brass looks but not worth the loss in sound.
I did a video on the martin LUX pins. They sound MUCH better. BUT, they were like $100 bux.
Im just using what came with my Taylor and liking it if it ain't broken don't fix it.
Ebony or Rosewood most likely. Yea, I still use what came with my guitar.
Probably string choice has as much influence in the sound of your guitar, so it's good to know that the same guitar is capable of many different voices, depending on your choices of strings, pins, nut and bridge materials.
I heard the most difference in the strumming. Didn't expect to hear any difference at all. I thought it had a more interesting rustic jangle. I wonder how it would increase the volume of silk and steel strings... For those, like myself, who like the feel of silk and steel but want to add more umph. Btw, can you provide a link to the pins you bought?
Those silk and steel strings are really cool. I remember loving the way they felt. Just added the amazon link in the description.
@@JTravlos Thanks. I just ordered some from Guitar Center. The abalone ones.
On this particular guitar, ebony pins sound better.
Brass make a difference
Yes indeed without Doubt 😊😊😊
No mass makes a difference
Add the same density to the bridge and it would have the same impact
I think these are "tone suckers" regardless, the mass dampens the bass response and adds sustain to the top end and yeah meh
Interesting. I Think brass bridge pins are pertinent for a super woody sound guitar. But folk guitars have metal strings, if you’re looking for a more ‘natural’ sound, get a classical guitar. I put some brass pins on my Yamaha FS5 instead of bone pins. I hear the trebles now.
If microphone is not attached to guitar, your tests are not miced the same way. If you notice a change it means your bridge is loose in the saddle. Brass bridge pins are a total waste.
I bet your guitar would sound better with plastic bridge pins. The highs on your guitar are too overwhelming and it sounds shrill. I have a guitar like yours, different brand but same tone. I was even about to sell it at one time. I put plastic bridge pins in it and now it’s one of my favorite guitars. I’d tried brass, bone and ebony. I thought the ebony would tone it down but they didn’t. Not until I used plastic.
Cheers mate
The Ebony sound better.
Makes the guitar sound a bit like a carbon fiber guitar
For me they're garbage. They just weigh down the bridge.... Deadening the sound of the guitar. Maybe there's some cheap guitars or something or some situation where they'll make someone's guitar sound better. But they were just tone ruining on a decent guitar in my experience. Ask any luthier or guitar professional and the warn you against using heavy bridge pins. You can get increases in sustain with bone or even tusq over plastic or even wood. But on some guitars you're upper strings could give a little brittle sounding
I took the strings off my acoustic and lost the bridge pins while waiting on the new ones to arrive' I ended up taking an hollow aluminum suitcase handle and drilling holes in it' put all the strings through the holes and threaded the strings up through the bridge from inside the sound hole. Kinda give it that sound of being packed and ready to take a trip.
No, Plastic Pins are Garbage.