Pinless Acoustic Bridge

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ozziebluesman
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Pinless Acoustic Bridge

Post by ozziebluesman » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:31 pm

Hi there,

Has anyone a plan of a pinless acoustic guitar bridge similar to a Takamine or Lowden?

Cheers

Alan
"Play to express, not to impress"

Alan Hamley

http://www.hamleyfineguitars.com/

Jim watts
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Re: Pinless Acoustic Bridge

Post by Jim watts » Sat Apr 28, 2018 9:52 am

Alan,
I think I have a drawing or model of a bridge I did a while back. See the photo below.
If you want, I can try to dig it up if you're interested.
2008_0124bridge0005.jpg
2008_0124bridge0005.jpg (114.05 KiB) Viewed 9500 times

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ozziebluesman
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Re: Pinless Acoustic Bridge

Post by ozziebluesman » Sat Apr 28, 2018 12:55 pm

Hi Jim thanks for your response.
I would be very interested in your drawing and would appreciate a copy.

I was going to elaborate further on my question as it seemed like no one was going to chip in.
My build is a Mini Maton sytle guitar. I have had two in the shop over a week with the bridge rolling forward and almost pulling completely off. The pickup crater underneath the bridge is the problem but I was thinking maybe a pinless bridge with a k&k mini western system would work well. My bracing pattern was going to be similar to the Scot Antes simple x brace, tone and finger brace design to give the guitar more tone and volume. It is a very small top so just maybe the pinless bridge design may work.

Very interested in any other thoughts.

Cheers and thanks for your interest

Alan
"Play to express, not to impress"

Alan Hamley

http://www.hamleyfineguitars.com/

Jim watts
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Re: Pinless Acoustic Bridge

Post by Jim watts » Sun Apr 29, 2018 1:27 pm

Alan,
I just sent you a PM with an attached drawing.
Jim

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ozziebluesman
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Re: Pinless Acoustic Bridge

Post by ozziebluesman » Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:26 pm

Thank you Jim.
Cheers
Alan
"Play to express, not to impress"

Alan Hamley

http://www.hamleyfineguitars.com/

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Mark McLean
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Re: Pinless Acoustic Bridge

Post by Mark McLean » Mon Apr 30, 2018 6:36 am

Alan
I don't have a drawing to offer you, but I do really like the design that Jim provided.
I have noticed that two of the most prominent makers who use pinless bridges (Takamine, Lowden) also use a split saddle for string compensation, and I am wondering why this is so? There doesn't seem to be any reason I can think of why a pinless bridge would result in need for greater compensation for the B-string than in a pinned bridge. I am guessing that, with no pins in the way, they feel they have the room to split the saddle to better compensate the B-string - which is often a bit of a compromise in a straight saddle? Do you have any other insights?

Jim - how do you route that groove on the bottom of it for the ball ends to recess into? I tried that one time and found that to be the most difficult aspect, because it is curved. I think that was the point where I gave up and switched that guitar (which was a Lowden-styled thing) to a pinned bridge.

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ozziebluesman
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Re: Pinless Acoustic Bridge

Post by ozziebluesman » Mon Apr 30, 2018 8:51 am

Morning Mark,
Great questions there mate.
From my research I believe the split saddle design is for better intonation.
The two saddles allows the small one for the two plain strings the ability to provide a generous compensation length and angle.
The break angle is also very good yet the total height of the bridge is lower or about the same as a pinned bridge depending on your top radius used.
You could also use the single saddle with success too but I think the double is the go.
My last OM build I used fine intonation at the nut just to try it and it worked well.
As you say Takamine, Lowden have used this design successfully for years.
My Son is a Pro musician and his first guitar was a Takamine Santa Fe with this bridge design.
It seemed to be able to handle different humidity levels and gigs indoors with high aircon units and outdoor gigs.
He used the guitar for over ten years mainly in Darwin and it never moved or let him down other than a few input jack replacements.
The guitar preamp finaly died and the guitar was retired, he still has it. I did a fret dress and a few repairs but it would gig again with a new preamp. Takamine have used the same carriage so all the preamps are interchangeable. There is a cheaper version and the cool tube models available now.
May I add he is very hard on guitars. His latest that has just died lasted 4 years and is a well known locally made M guitar.
This guitar was not in the class of the Takamine and failed in many areas especially the bridge rolling forward due to being used in humid and drier environments and Dad had to keep patching it up.
For his 40th birthday just recently I bought him a second hand Takamine with the cool tube system. The guitar has had very little use but unfortunately the preamp has died. The guitar is worth a new $500 preamp and will last for years.
So getting back to my Mini M copy build I have decided to use a simple X two finger and one tone brace system. The neck block also has a top extension 15 mm thick and butts the tranverse brace. I think the pinless bridge design will work well with this small guitar.
Thanks for your interest.
Chers
Alan
"Play to express, not to impress"

Alan Hamley

http://www.hamleyfineguitars.com/

Jim watts
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Re: Pinless Acoustic Bridge

Post by Jim watts » Wed May 02, 2018 1:37 pm

Mark,
I pattern routed using a 1/8" slotting style router bit with a guide bearing from my binding set to get the right depth.
The style of bit I used is shown on this web page.
https://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsit ... _slot.html
Hope this helps.

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