Topic: Brass Bridge Pins

I just got a new Takamine that has the cheap rounded bridge pins that are hard to remove and i want to change them out. Will brass bridge pins have any effect on the tone of the guitar?

Re: Brass Bridge Pins

There's only one way to know for sure. 

I've heard people say that it helps to make the tone a little brighter, but I've never tested that hypothesis.

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Re: Brass Bridge Pins

dfoskey wrote:

I just got a new Takamine that has the cheap rounded bridge pins that are hard to remove and i want to change them out. Will brass bridge pins have any effect on the tone of the guitar?

Yes they will change the tone, normally for the better.

4 (edited by Guitarpix 2009-02-18 16:10:27)

Re: Brass Bridge Pins

You may want to read through this thread on bridge pins.. http://www.chordie.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9595

Bridge pins do make a small dfference (brass making more than others) but the question is in which way do you want to change the sound? Different pin materials have different effects on tone. You need to consider the tone woods that your guitar has, it's voice and how you want it to sound... Choosing the wrong material can actually make it sound worse to you if it accents what you don't like in the tone...  Personally, I'm not a fan of brass pins. I prefer a more woody tone and brass is too bright and metallic for my taste, but that's just personall prefrence...-Pix

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Re: Brass Bridge Pins

Thanks for the input. I've already changed them out with different styled plastic and i do hear a slight change. It was too bright before so i don't want the brass pins for sure.

Re: Brass Bridge Pins

To really get the best outta your acoustic you not only need to change out the bridge pins but you need to replace the bridge and the nut with harder materials. There are many different materials from mammoth tusk, bone,  ivory or synthetic out there that will improve the sound. You just need to find out what materials will work for the sound you are looking for.

nela