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I own a 1977 Takamine F400 12 string that I restored with neck reset conversion to bolt on, refret, tuners, brace repairs and truss rod repair. I have played it out at open mics a lot, as much as any of my 6 string or my 12 string Martin. I own a Martin D12-28 as well and the Takamine is more comfortable to play with a somewhat narrower neck. The Martin is only marginally better tonally. It is one I will keep until I can no longer play, then it goes to nephiew.

Ebony for bright guitars, brass for mellower guitars.. Those were the 2 that seemed to make a difference The others sounded similar IMHO

The best sounding and best priced acoustic guitars that came out of Japan in the late 60s to early 70s were the FG Line from Yamaha Japan . These were all built at the Nippon Gakki factory and most of them sported the red label marked with the model number and the words ‘Nippon Gakki “ ..

Bridge Pins definitely have a big influence on tone

I like Aria W-25 dreadnought acoustic guitar.

If you do a blind test you will not hear any difference in bridge pins. Saddles, yes.

holy crap! wonder if slots or no slots would make a difference as well great post!

Ebony for brighter guitars, bone for mellower. Bone saddles for everything. ❤

Brass sounds way better. I put them on a carbon fiber guitar and its way better.

Hello, is this a solid top? Well, I have. 25 from 1975 and it is laminate. I've read that the no.25 is supposed to be solid, so I'm a bit confused. Thanks for the info and the video!

I have a set of ebony pegs with brass centres ....no slots in the pins ...I've slotted the bridge slightly to compensate ....made a fair difference to the tone

I hcanged the oroginal pins in my Larrivee for brass and it made a noticeable difference in tone and sustain. I put the same set of pins in my Martin and it made no change at all.

Ebony and Tusq are very nice but brass makes everything louder more equalized . Brass is way heavier though. So what you could do is cut off 1/2 inch off the tip and bevel the end steeper. Less weight easier to vibrate.? Just a thought.

No one can hear the difference only the guitar player who changed the strings pins and tweecked it all will be able to hear it when the player finds the combination that suits there hears it is a noticeable improvement

Ive got a stainless steel bridge in my acoustic and a bone nut, brass sounds great but would be too bright, ended up with bone !

You would enjoy 70s lawsuit Takamine guitars. I have 1978 lawsuit F340 and even with laminated top it sounds wonderful :)

Are these pins slotted or not? Do you have slots in your bridge holes or not? If the bridge is slotted, you should be able to remove the pins and the strings stay in place; do you hear a sound difference then?

I've tried breast pins and it was terrible in my guitar. They're really heavy.. They might work on some guitars... But it was tongue death for mine

To my ears, brass wins. Would love to also compare the Martin Liquid Metal and D’Addario Titanium pins.

Hola la aria WG-15CEN sabes que origen es?

I think the ebony pins sound the best. More woody and natural

Listening through earphones, I really couldn't hear much difference, and I would have thought I should have mmmm, very interesting, thanks though,😊😊😊😊

Nice video. I'm thinking of getting one.😊

If you play into a DAW you can see the EQ spike in different frequencies some push more mids bass etc they may not be heard through computer or phone speakers. At least you ear phones for better definition!

I see no one is mentioning the buzzing

I have a brand new guitar and I'm having so craving much trouble with the bridge pins.

I would say ya got everything you need!

Agreed, right out of the gate in about a heartbeat. Ebony for sure.

I use ten penny nails. Sheetrock screws are also good.

Any part of a guitar is a filter or an enhancer, at a different %.

Bone, Ebony , or Tusq. Brass is too bright to my ears. Tusq seems more balanced on all strings.

All sound the same. Other than that is no more than pretending to have a prilegiated ear

Thank you.

I'm in the Tusq camp I believe. Ebony and Bone are close seconds (in that order)...but yes I can absolutely hear a difference in all of them. Any electric guitar I've ever bought with a Plastic nut (looking right at you Fender Squier) IMMEDIATELY gets changed to a Tusq. And any acoustic guitar I buy that comes with a Plastic nut gets changed out to Bone---bridge pins and saddle as well. I HATE plastic on guitars. Too chimey and fake'ish. Brass don't float my boat on sound either---maybe just Telecaster saddles, but Brass gets too chimey for me as well.

I might be tone deaf… I couldn’t hear any difference.

I just had an order in for both ebony and bone pins. After watching this (mixed with a Taylor master luthier saying it doesn't really matter unless the fit isn't snug) I went back and cancelled the order. Total waste of money. Thank you

2:13 - 2:26

It sounded clearer and chiminger with the plate to me

Iv'e never heard of these guitar's ( steel string) 😮😮😮

Buffalo horn and bone are not the same.

🤣😂……🤪… forget the pins, the strings rest on the bridge & the nut & the material that they are made of helps define the tone NOT the pin material…….. think about it 🙃

Plastic sounds just fine

Pretty awesome demo. I though ebony sounded great! My take away is that the pin material and it's characteristics should be matched for the guitars character. For instance, I have a dark sounding Mahogany Takamine that improved mightily by trading the old plastic for Tusq. It brightened it a bit and balanced the low/high. I might buy Brass and see if that brightens it up a tad more. I have a Taylor that is too bright, so I may put in the Tusq or try Bone and ebony. There's also no rule that says you cannot mix and match.

anything but plastic for the 3 lower strings, ebony or bone for the higher strings. if i could only choose one: ebony

Not a lot of difference between them to my ears, until you get to 'brass'. Brass doesn't sound quite as warm as the others, but is a tad brighter, with better definition. I prefer brass pins on my Sigma and Seagull guitars. They also polish up beautifully.

Ebony took a slight edge over the tusq in my opinion warmer with more depth from the low notes .

i used to have a dione twin neck, 6 and 12 string with brass nut, saddle and frets - rather unique. big as a wardrobe though.

Brass pins are a true improvement to any guitar, I’ve used them all and can’t play without brass pins now. The top vibrates more, the strings sing clear and deep like a piano. The other pins are just blah .

isn't it more the nut that makes a difference in sound... ?

I hear the plastic as the best all-rounder. The audience will neither care nor notice so you may as well have the best-looking set.