Are Martin Liquidmetal Bridge Pins worth the hype?
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- čas přidán 6. 08. 2024
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Martin Liquid Metal Bridge Pins ► geni.us/martinguitar
Are these Martin Luxe Liquidmetal Bridge Pins worth the hype? I put them to the test against stock Martin plastic pins, and bone pins.
Which was your favorite? Leave a comment below and let me know!
00:00 Introduction
01:25 Look & feel
03:11 Putting them on
04:41 Plastic
06:47 Bone
09:15 Liquidmetal
11:20 What do you think
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Does Martin use these on their guitars? Nope, not worth it.
@@elusivelectron They do, on their Modern Deluxe series.
I expected the liquid metal to make the guitar too bright but it actually didn't and gave it more sustain and volume. They are worth the hype indeed.
To me the bone sounded better all around. The Liquid Metal one’s almost sounded the same as bone, but the plastic ones were higher pitched and far less sustain. I think bone is probably best value.
Great observations!!
really? because to me the bone sounded muffled and muddy compared to the plastic and liquid metal. I could hardly tell a difference between those two, i feel liquid metal is slightly better but it could be my imagination, so I'd stick with the plastic.
No I wouldn't go that way at all, when ever I use metal pins they Always sound better ( I know the theory of 'sound ' starts & finishes- saddĺe to nut,)however my ears tell me different, I could hear a difference with the L/metal but only Slightly, the same difference- plastic to bone , just my thoughts though, a good video though 😊😊😊@@cooloutac
Just a suggestion, the comparison would be Better if you had 3 acoustic's, each with the different pins installed, then just play a few chords on each, do it 3 or 4 times in succession, NOW you'll have a better comparison, I look forward to it, many thanks again 😊😊😊
Definitely a difference. I liked the warmth, volume and sustain of the liquid metal pins the best, but the bone pins were a very close second.
I liked the sound with bone pins best. plastic was thin sounding, the liquid metal seemed to have some of that, bone pins were not as bright but sounded fatter. I think I might try some bone pins on my 56 Martin D18. Which already sounds incredible btw.
Hey there !
Thanks for the video! Where did you bought the bone pins from ?
I was surprised about at the warmth and clarity the liquid metal pins had, I typically prefer bone, but I may have to buy a set one day to have on one guitar. Makes sense scientifically.
Leave it to Martin to take the next step
This is the second comparison video I've watched with Liquidmetal bridge pins. I like the sound the Liquidmetal pins help create. I may be tempted to buy some and try them out.
Worth a try! Thanks for watching :)
I think the bone sounds the best, then the liquid metal, then the plastic. The liquid metal sounded the loudest, the plastic sounded the most trebly and harsh at times, the bone sounded the most soothing. These differences could potentially be caused in changes to the way you were strumming? It's hard to know.
Yes, although I tried my best to play consistently, it’s definitely up to personal preference. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Bone. Fingerprinting. ❤ thanks! I liked the metal but it definitely sounded metal. I liked the softer sound of bone.
For a D-18, I think they work wonders.
I preferred the bone pins. It seemed to have a good tone and volume balance throughout and I felt like you had more control of your playing. Great playing by the way. It seemed as if you lost your control when you switched to the lux pins and the plastic pins just fell a bit short in comparison.
Thanks for sharing!
I liked the plastic pins best. I thought that both the bone and LM added a harshness to the top end. I liked the warmth of the plastic on this guitar. Thanks for making the video! Very helpful.
Thanks for the tips, and thanks for the compliments!
I put bone pins in my D28 soon after I got it, mostly to better protect the bridge plate. The plastic ones deform after a while. The tone was noticeably glassier than the plastic pins, which makes sense. I’m curious about the liquid metal pins but I’m happy with the bone pins and I really don’t like the red dots on them. If they had black dots I’d maybe be tempted.
thanks for ur comment!
totally agree , the red dot is a bad color choice
@@aum3.146lol paint them it's only a dot
Nice playing all around; thank you.
Thank you so much!
First sweet guitar. I found the plastic giving the high strings a tinny brassy sound. The Bone in my opinion does even out the brassy sound . The liquid metal pins by Martin up that brassy sound but not as much as the plastic. I’m no expert. But I know what I like when it comes to sound. I own a few Martins for their balance sound between base and treble. My pick is the bone pins. Now I”d like to hear your opinion.
Well i can tell you the modern deluxe martins are a big step up from the standard series, they have these pins, but I know that doesn't mean much
I have watched a few videos making comparison. This is the first time I thought the metal pins were best. I think it's down to your playing. Very clean picking and strumming... Metal pins were the best to my ears. Warm and balanced.
Glad it was helpful!
If I was going to spend that much on bridge pins I’d go with fossilized walrus ivory. It doesn’t get much better than that. Maury’s music sells them but they are expensive. Very good review though! I enjoyed watching 👍🏻. I thought you was gonna play the Tennessee Waltz there for a min but you stopped lol. Great tune
Bone pins really need a bone saddle to go with them. The saddle is the main point of contact
Would you say they are worth the $100 dollar upgrade? I have a Martin HD-28 with plastic bridges pins that I want to change (you would think that a $3,200 dollar guitar would come equipped with something better than plastic). I can definitely tell a noticeable difference in your comparison. Did you prefer one over the other?
Martin say they provide plastic because they know everyone will change to their preference. Hmm.
Actually, Martin says they use plastic pins because they bend with the dryness and humidity without damaging the bridge plate. I use ebony pins on my ebony bridge here in Monterey where the humidity is stable between 45 and 55.
I think that there where no difference in tone coming out of the guitar, but in the compression of that sound. Plastic pins sound snappier (slow attack) and fast release. Bone and metal pins sounded more compressed, with equal amounts of attack (medium), but the release was more proeminent (medium) in the bone pins, whereas with the liquid metal pins the release is very slow. Sounded like when I change picks.
I’m comparing the strumming with fingers and also the strumming with pick.. Plastic pins the sounding is warmer and feels abit floating.. I like how the liquidmental ones sound.. it’s brighter and at the same time more grounded.. like singing having more support 😂 Bone pins sounding in between.. if u don’t like the sounding to be too bright then bone pins are good! I did some research and apparently the pins should also affect the sustain! My ears not good enough to pick up the difference on the sustain part.. Plastic pins are ❌ to me.. But I’m not good at these so I’m not sure if i’m making sense.. HAHAHA! Thanks for sharing though!
Yes the liquidmetal ones are brighter but not overboard! If you like warm sound, then the bone is a great choice. Either way, they are much better than the stock plastic pins!
Here’s some advise. If you have a bright sounding acoustic guitar, stay away from tusk pins. However if you have a dark sounding acoustic then by all means try tusk pins. If you use tusk on an already bright sounding acoustic it will sound too glassy and give you a headache. Martins typically sound just fine with their stock plastic pins.
Be more explicit. Rosewood back and sides sound good tusq, mahogany back and sides sound good tusq. I used Yamaha LS_TA, CSF-3M, CSF-TA or Takamine P7JC. I also used the tusq saddle on the LL-TA guitar and it sounds very good. Saddle was a little forced into the slot, this fact made the difference. The pickup under the saddle kills the sound, forcing the sound to be transmitted to the side
All sounded remarkably like a D-18 to me. There were slight differences, but those differences could just as easily be the strings and the amount of time they were played in. I have a 1999 D-42 that I bought new back then. I'm sure Martin used the best pins available at the time. It sounds remarkably like a 24-year-old D-42, which is... pretty good. I think I'll keep it stock.
Thanks for the video. To me, the Liquid ones do sound better, althoug bone is nice too. The questions are if they justify the price... and the look.
Most welcome! Yes bone sounds great too
Can I put this Liquid Metal bridge pins on my taylor gs mini koa plus guitar? Its traditional or presentation pin shape?
Did u sell this pins? 🤭🤭 i wanna buy it preloved from u hehe
Hello! Haha sorry I am currently using them! Not sure of the fit, I suggest u ask Martin!
LM then the bone pins. Great playing btw
Thank you Larry!!
The real game changer is the Blue Chip pick..it makes any type of bridge pin sparkle.....
Good recommendation!
Great comparison - the bones sounded the best as a real acoustic tone - the liquid was cool but less classic
I tried them a few years ago and they sucked the tone from my D28 so I switched immediately to bone.
You had the headphones. Your opinion would have been better than mine. I have always liked bone for my mahogany guitar. IMO bone has for many years sounded better than the plastic pins that come with initial purchases. Changing to bone has to me been sonically an upgrade I was satisfied with.
Bone is great
I would think that the heavier the pin the more energy it would take to move the sound board. Just a thought.
What do you think about ebony?
Solid choice
I definitely liked the tone of the plastic pins the best. They give a perfect warm balanced tone. The others pins make it sound a bit too bright.
I know it sounds weird to say because plastic pins seem cheap and generic but in my experiences they do typically sound better. I like the liquid metal second best.
Not to be critical, but it would have been easier without the background guitar music between the different pins. It was distracting and made a comparison harder. I like the bone, and the Liquid Metal but an immediate comparison of each pins in each style of playing would have been easier to compare for me. That would require video editing way beyond my skills lol.
Thank you for ur feedback!
Martin fancy ones more resonance, bone more tone and attack, plastic not bad but lower output
Thanks for ur feedback!
I don't need to hear "tests" to know there will be no difference. Get some putty or double side tape and some quarters. Start fixing quarters to the bridge, stop when you hear a difference. It takes quite a few, more than 3, more like 10 or 12. The speed of sound through the top is the main factor affecting a guitars sound, second to how you attack the strings.
Another solution for which there is no problem! ;)
bass note sounds more defined - sounds like a high end Taylor with liquid metal
So put your opinion in already (and your name, while you're at it--pretty sure it's not Guitar Street). I thought the bone pins sounded warmer (don't know what that means in term of frequencies, but maybe more mid). I couldn't hear a big volume difference with the Liquidmetal pins, but I have 75 year old ears, so sonic subtleties are lost on me.
Too bad they don’t make unslotted pins in the Liquid Metal
Bone best tone!
Bone sounds for me nice, liquid sounds a bit louder, but the price for the liquid pins is Excessive! I prefer the bone!
Fair enough!
@@guitarstreet 175€ - fair ?
@@FoxMulder22 I meant that your comment is fair (reasonable). Is it that much where you are? In Singapore, it's 80 EUR approximately, for the black one.
@@guitarstreet mostly the products in Asia (maybe they are produced there) are cheaper. Yes the deluxe version is this price in Europe. Martin Guitars Bridge Pin Liquid Metal DG: 99€, MARTIN Luxe Bridge Pins Turkish Emery: 85,80€, Martin Guitars Bridge Pin Liquid Metal Bone P: 229€, Martin Guitars Bridge Pin Liquid Metal Gold:199€.
Maybe it is due to the poor computer audio but I couldn't tell the difference between any of them.
barely a difference. The bone stood out from the other two with a little warmer more mellow sound. But I felt it was real muddy on the low end compared to the metal and plastic which I couldn't tell apart lol.
@lqueso
Your ears aren't deceiving you - there's no discernable difference.
Not surprising, pin material doesn't have an effect on guitar tone. 🤷🏼♂️ The only role of the pin is to stop the ballend slipping out. On a slotted bridge, you could remove the pins and still not hear a difference.
@mikee6666 wrong lmao.. they absolutely affect the tone. You might just be a little tone deaf. Lol
@@cooloutac If there were any proper studies to prove as much, I'd agree. But I've not even seen(heard) anything that remotely resembles a controlled experiment to indicate pin material makes a difference. This video included; tone differences are bearly perceptable (if at all), and any perceived differences could be down to any number of factors; there's nothing at all in the demo to single out pin material as making a difference.
If people believe pin material makes a difference, they'll "hear" a difference regardless. Doesn't make it so.
Set up a controlled experiment that removes the human factor (fingers and ears), and let's see how the wave forms compare.
@@mikee6666 the fact you need proper studies is simply confirmation you are either tone deaf, or play so many different guitars and pins your ears are completely unfocused. I'm not even going to ask if you can hear a difference between 16 bit 48hz or 32bit 192hz audio samples. LMAO. But much easier to hear a difference in plastic vs bone or ebony bridge pins which is a MASSIVE difference in comparison to different digital audio qualities. Do you hear a difference between tusq and bone saddles? because some people can't. I have a feeling you are one of them. But the difference is tusq is louder and more resonant especially on the first 2 strings. Compared to bone which is more muffled and warmer. But most people prefer bone because its more traditional and natural sounding. Similar to Martin retro strings vs phosphor bronze, but its also considered more premium material even though that is not the truth lol. I've actually had a top gibson quality control guy tell me there is no difference between bone and tusq and I told him he plays so many guitars all day he might not notice. But I'll tell you what I'm never buying a gibson because of his ignorant comment.
As expensive as the Martin's are, they should include the liquid metal pins. I wouldn't buy them to put on a 200 guitar. The bone ones are more cost-effective. I put a set of the bone ones on my FG-700s Yamaha.
Can’t go wrong with bone. I use bone pins on my Taylor too.
Well the liquid metal sounds "metallic" i prefer the warmer plastic
Plastic are good, that’s why Martin puts them on
I think none sound bad...just slightly different..thanks
Plastic because too hard of material makes a guitar sound quacky
Thanks for your feedback!
4:44 vs 9:22 ...... 5:21 vs 10:06 ...... 6:07 vs 10:55
Your the man
Plastic fantastic
The Liquid Metal’s had better definition and clarity
Hell......No!!!! Give'em back🤣🤣🤣
Haha! To each his own!
Bone sounded muddy and muffled, I think the liquid metal sounded slightly better than plastic. But I don't know if i'm imagining it. not worth the price imo. stick with the plastic. But ya the bone sounds horrible on your guitar. I thinkt he liquid metal had the most volume.
It’s cool how everyone has different opinions :) thank u for sharing
@guitarstreet looking at videos of that liquid metal it seem to really stand out amongst all of them as far as volume and sustain without sacrificing any sound clarity. But the price is ridiculous.
@@guitarstreet i've now done this comparison myself between tusq and bone and i feel bone is a downgrade compared to the tusq. but I guess it depends on the guitar or sound you looking for. tusq is way louder and resonant especially on the high treble strings. bone is muffled, more sintarish, but warmer and more natural sounding with better note separation. So I\ guess if you looking for a more mellow or warmer sound bone is the way to go. if you trying to play loud and crisp and brighter tusq is the answer.
@@cooloutac thank you for sharing your valuable insights!!
No. THe liquid metal sounded pretty much like the bone, and honestly not much better than the plastic. In the UK, these cost £144. I'll pass. It is also difficult to overlook the psychoacoustic element. To me your actual playing was different across the 3 sets of pins.
thanks for ur feedback!
The purpose of a review like this should be to express your (the reviewer's) opinion. After all, the viewer can't hear any subtle differences that you may hear. Only you can feel the guitar vibrate against your body. The reason I watched this video was to hear your conclusions. I was disappointed when you didn't express your opinion. In other words, I wasted my time.
Thank you for sharing your valuable feedback. I understand what you mean, and I aim to do better next time! Hope you stick around ✌🏼
bone is the most right thing. liquid metal is too bright.
Placebo
Not a fan of thr metal pins at all
How is this a review if you don't give you're opinion this is a demo.
Yeah, this is more of a demo. I wanted you to have the chance to use your ears and make your own judgment. Thanks for your feedback, I'll do better next time!
Bone more sustain, metal just brighter tone, better use bone
Thumbs down for not sharing your opinion
Brass. The best of both worlds and CHEAP.