Steel strings: slot the bridge? or the pins?

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dshaker
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Steel strings: slot the bridge? or the pins?

Post by dshaker » Sat Jun 07, 2014 3:53 am

Does anyone have any well-reasoned prejudices for slotting the bridge or the bridge pins when executing a steel string based on The Book?

From what I can see:
Slot the bridge and the ball end gets hung up on the end of the pin less often.
Slot the pin and you don't start out with a bridge plate that has six tiny assaults on its integrity.

Any thoughts?
-Doug Shaker

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Trevor Gore
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Re: Steel strings: slot the bridge? or the pins?

Post by Trevor Gore » Sat Jun 07, 2014 9:40 am

dshaker wrote:...Slot the bridge and the ball end gets hung up on the end of the pin less often...
Stewmac only just seems to have caught on to this (they just issued a video on it, which I deleted, so I can't link to it), but if you cut a 45 degree chamfer on the bottom of the pin (start the cut about 5mm up on the grooved side) the ball ends don't hang up. They just slide up the ramp then seat against the uncut part of the pin. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember, but it seems everything old is new!

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Trevor Gore
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Re: Steel strings: slot the bridge? or the pins?

Post by Trevor Gore » Sat Jun 07, 2014 3:24 pm

I just chanced across that Stewmac link on another forum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_USoXzrr9Q

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