This $25 Tool Can Help Anyone Make Their Guitar Sound Better!
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2021
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I just finished the alteration of the bridge on my backup instrument that honestly I wouldn't have been upset if stolen. But now you couldn't take it from me. The volume is noticeably louder. The sustain is shocking, really, and the tone is so much more complex. This was on a $300 The Loar flattop that went from an ok sounding great playing instrument to a beautiful sounding great playing instrument. Like Tanglewife , I ask, " why isn't this simple adjustment standard on every instrument. I can't image what my Martin is going to sound like when I make this change. Thank you so much.
I appreciated this comment so much that I pinned it to the top! I’m glad you had good results from it. The reason the big companies don’t do this from the factory is because it takes up to much time in the manufacturing process. Simple as that.
@@DriftwoodGuitars BTW My Martin is another guitar now. Couldn't the CNC machines cut the slots, and the rollover be done by hand? what would it cost?
Umm...about the pins. Couldn't you just turn the pin with the slot away 180 degrees opposite of the slot in the wood you just cut. I mean, if it's just a safety pin?
@@firebald2915 Well that's half of it but what makes it work is that the ball end is in contact with the bridge plate. That's where the extra energy and sound come from. Also clarity.
@@28reinvent I think you might be 'talking past' each other. If your existing slotted pins fit well after the slotting mod, when turned 180 degrees (so that the slot faces the tail, instead of the string) you will likely get 98% of the benefit of this mod. The advantage of the Waverly and reamer 'finish' to the mod is probably 90% "fit and finish", that any luthier would want of a guitar going out of his shop, and the remaining 10% would be the increased surface contact and added mass. It is up to the individual, whether that extra 0-2% improvement is worth another $100, over just the saw (currently sold out, for reasons we can guess) and the existing pins, rotated 180.
Please please please do this on your next guitar breakdown before you cut the thing in half. I for one would love to actually hear the difference before and after. 🙏 Awesome vid as always!!
Yeah totally...before/after...and slot every second string only to see if it really changes the balance of the guitar...so A, g, e'...or maybe E, d, b...either would work...think A, g, e' would come across better on average speakers...
Easily the best way to show why it's important, I can't believe they didn't demonstrate what they're trying to pitch here.
Demonstration a must,if it dosn,t make enough audible difference to notice on a vid,how much difference,and quality tuition requires a demonstration,viewers get a bit tired of seeing half vids that don't finish the story,I would rather see two exact guitars,1 slotted pin,and 1 slotted bridge solid pin,and hear the difference between the two..
Two exact guitars,1 slotted pins,1 slotted bridge,let's hear the difference👍👍👍👍👍surely its noticeable.
I was wondering about this myself. How much faith does he have in this procedure if he hasn't done it to one of his guitars to do a demo?
EDIT: now that I have come back and watched this video again, I'm not sure whether he does this to his guitars. He doesn't make much a point of saying that he does it to all of his builds.
Could you do an A/B sound test (with a cheap guitar) to prove the concept?
Great idea, they can easily measure any difference and determine values.
Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing. No one on YT has a back to back sound comparison. I understand how it works but I want to make sure it’s a big enough difference to justify taking a saw to my only acoustic 😂😂
I made it with 2 guitars...it’s just great
And for another simple tone enhancing tip from one of the great modern luthiers (TJ Thompson I believe) that we all can do: "Double ball end" your strings ! How ? Cut the ball away of the old string and slide over the new string when changing. Imagine at the 9:00 mark having a flat circle making full contact with the bridge plate instead of only a portion of the ball digging in behind the pin. Also helps preserve the plate as well. You're welcome.
Nice point, rare tip!
it make sens, tank you
Great tip, thanks! I knew I was saving some old ball ends for something!
@Christoph 1945 I think this would be as good as unslotted pins and less work because of the contact area. I always use bone nut, saddle and bridge pins. 😀
In essence, that would give it balls…
Hello Chris! The guitar finish video series is BY FAR the best of its kind. The mix of knowledge, real time crafting, personal experience and sidenotes on problems that could occur is outstanding. That is IMO exactly what was missing on YT. Keep it going and all the best for you!
I for one appreciate the innards of those guitars and the resultant education now possible. This mod really makes sense when you can see both sides of the bridge. Keep up the good work Guys!!
Alan Carruth did an experiment on this and concluded that the amount of break angle needed (at both nut and saddle) is only what is needed to accurately define the point where the string crosses the nut/saddle and exert enough tension to keep the string from moving about and wasting energy. That's not really very much. See Carruth (he found that on blind testing people could not tell the difference between a break angle of 25 degrees and 6 degrees - that's a lot - provided the strings remained the same distance from the top) but also Ted Woodford's channel for more on this. At the saddle, the issue only arises if the saddle has been lowered to such an extent that Carruth's two criteria are broken (usually in an attempt to lower the action in a guitar which is getting near needing a neck reset). In this situation, ramping is a great thing to do, but otherwise there's no real evidence that it makes any improvement.
Very happy to see this idea as I had come up with this myself after needing to lower my saddle to a reasonable action height and had to compensate by cutting the bridge slots to keep the string angle reasonable enough to push down on the saddle.
Thank you so much for this video. I performed this little operation on my beloved 1999 Larrivee Parlor yesterday - used the StewMac saws and 5 degree reamer and a set of Waverly unslotted bone bridge pins and I'm really happy with the results. It was always a great guitar, but just sounds more together, with more fullness and most noticeably, a significant increase in sustain. I wouldn't call the difference night and day or anything, but it's definitely an improvement. Thanks again for the instruction and encouragement.
It's great that you've shown the "mechanical" aspect of this procedure but the proof of the pudding would have been to do this on a functioning guitar - even a cheaper unit - to demonstrate a before and after tone inprovement.......or not !!!
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Exactly!
I like to do this whenever possible. Nice video and explanation! The $25 tool can be fabricated from a Bosch style blade, the one for fine wood that cuts on the downstroke + a dowel handle.
champion comment right here
For those of us that do not know, what is a Bosch-style blade?
@@lenp00 its a jigsaw blade except much narrower, about the same size as the slotting saws. So basically it can fit in the bridge pin whole unlike normal jigsaw blades that are too tall.
Yup bought 2 blades for $1.99 and put dowel handles on em and bingo, worked just fine. Nothing against Stew-Mac tools, love the ones I have, but man are they pricey.
Just did this to a budjet narrow body acu\ele I am working on, and WOW what a huge differance!! I only buy bodies that sound good quality or economy. Even with a guitar that already had resonance, I was shocked at the difference.
Do you double up the blade for thickness? Or is the Kerf wide enough for the strings? Great idea!
Thank you for making this video and sharing this info! Slotted my bridge last night as exactly shown and while it took me almost 2 hours to do everything as I took my time, it turned out perfectly. My guitar sounds more resonant and louder. This is awesome! Much appreciated
Bad ass! Glad it worked for you.
Excellent information. Not only about the bridge pins, but about the whole transfer or sound. Some of us learned to play well and notice that one guitar performs better than another, but didn't learn why. You opened up a lot of things here, thanks.
Just made this modification on a Fender Stratacoustic. I had already sanded down the saddle, tightened the truss and shimmed the neck to successfully get the characteristic high action down. But since it's a small acoustic, it had crap sustain and this made a huge, huge difference! I was kind of blown away. It's an actually great sounding acoustic guitar now.
I just did this to what I thought was a beautiful sounding guitar. Did before and after recordings, and can't believe how flat the before sounds now! The added sparkle and depth is unreal. Why is this not a stock feature on all acoustics?!
EDIT: So after playing about for half an hour I can safely say my guitar is now noticeably louder, feels more responsive, and the sustain is incredible! It sounds like a different instrument. All I can say is thank you for this amazing tip!
He did this cut only for E B G, rest of the strings are stock, I guess only for the example what is the difference, you did those cuts on every 6 strings ? I want to do it to my guitar as well
I did it as well, on a yamaha f310. I start to feel it but I'm not sure yet. It's definitely more crisp and loud. So when I dropped saddle on that guitar break angle dropped drastically. My other guitars have better break angle so I don't really need to slot them or do I....
You are just delusional. this does not do much its a useless theory.
I belive you, but problem with changes like this is, you may think it sounds better, because of novelty of it. When I first changed my bone bridge and ebony pins for Tusq I was so happy, guitar definetly sounded better. After two years I got back to bone and ebony and guess what, It sounds better again! Isnt it funny?
@@Michal844 of course you do all 6 of the strings? why on earth wouldn't you?
playing guitar near 50 years, repair the most myself but this is absalutly new to me and a detail so plausible and logig. now i have to control 21 guitars, thank you for the next winterprojekt
Just made the changes to my Martin just like you described. Very excited with what happened. Not only tone clearer, more resonance, but an unexpected more volume. Thank you and keep cutting those guitars in half.
This really works. I’ve slotted the bridge on a couple of my guitars already. I used a Dremel tool for this, but I paid quit a bit for the slotted bridge pins, and since the pins were fairly new, I didn’t want to replace them just yet. I put the pins in with the slots facing away from the strings, and presto, they worked. It does, to my ears, make a difference. I didn’t think this up be myself though. I believe I must have seen this on another channel. Anyway, I’m retired, and I have a lot of free time. But, one can do quite a bit of damage with the Dremel, so I’ll be using one of those little saws on my Martins and Gibsons. 😎
I've always liked a slotted bridge over slotted pins. Doing this would also allow you to lower a saddle for a guitar with really high action and keep a decent break angle.
Hello,today I made this modification on my 50 years old Aria guitar...I put on the same strings and the sound just blows me away...
I love your channel, the guitars you are building are wonderful and I really thank you that you share this secret with people how can’t buy a guitar in your shop.....you really made a man happy 😃 😃😃😃😃🎸🎸🎶🎶have a nice day Martin from Senegal
Another huge benefit of this mod is by changing the force of the break angle from a forward force to a more downward force on the saddle, the front of the bridge is less likely to crack at the saddle groove. I've done this mod to my old acoustics and stand by it!
Wow! Your presentation is absolutely perfect, your teaching methods very thorough. This for me as a novice guitar builder is perfect advise for my next build. Really enjoy your artistic approach & display of calmness and taking the time to always do your best while sharing invaluable information & building methods. I am on my 5 th build, lots of tips from you Helped me achieve my goals. I am 71 years old self thought by people like yourself. Thank you very, very much. Always looking forward to your videos. Vic
The number 1 tool to making your guitar sound better is absolutely free. Diligent practice executed over long periods of time. Guaranteed to make your guitar sound better.
Thank You !
I have done it with my parlor 1906...it had a very good nice warm sound..but now..even more ! 🙏
Great info, I'm going to do this even though I already love my guitars sound :) I am inspired!
A couple of years ago I watched some old yt vids on how to file the end of slotted pegs, you gently file a 5-10 degree slope over the slot from the tip, not much more than when the bottom of it sticks out, something like 1/4-1/3 of an inch, and several on how to seat the bead of the string up tight, When you put in the new string you slide the peg and string at the same time, then before you push it in you tug the string until you hear it hit the top, the filing keeps the bead horizontal against the bridge bottom, then seat the peg. I'm a noobie git player but this has worked wonderfully for me through many string changes on a cheap guitar (Epidr-100) and the pegs are still in great shape.
The explanation of surface sound transfer has me convinced to try this, one thing though is that there is no going back, so a small thought on this would be to soak the new slot with super glue to toughen up the lower woods in the body, just a thought.
Thank you so much for your time teaching folks, its easy to understand and you're good at it. Cheers from BC Canada!
Really good info. I do slot the top for the break angle but haven't slotted all the way through the bridge because I've always leveraged the pin slot, so using solid pins and slotting all way through bridge will be a future test of mine. I also create a 3/32" thick brass plate stuck to underside of bridge for the string balls to grab to prevent bridge wear and it also gives the tone a tad bit more snap. I'll need to slightly slot the holes in the brass plate also. 👍
Best explanation of why and how I’ve ever seen on this subject. I have done all my guitars already, but I now want to improve the brake angle.
I followed your advice thinking it wouldn't show much improvement but it made my cheap Yamaha guitar sound so much better. Really appreciate your advice 👍
This works. I did this same thing when installing a fishman piezo under-saddle pickup on an old Yamaha ages ago.
But that was after i had installed without reading the fishman instructions, and got a lousy output. Then, after a few minutes with the manual, slotting the bridge and increasing the break angle, i got a very measurable increase in output from the piezo. And more overall everything, as Chris says, from the unamplified guitar.
I build guitars and use unslotted bridge pins by putting the slot in the bridge. However it is worthwhile to use a more narrow file or saw for the thinner strings. Actually, each slot cut in bridge and bridge place should be the custom width for the size string going into that slot. He mentions that there is a more narrow saw for this that he does not bother to use. By using the bigger saw and cutting away more material in the bridge plate, he actually has less of the ball resting on less bridge plate material. Having the ball end pull against more bridge plate material would maximize the goal of this hack. In addition, eventually the ball end of the strings will ware away the bridge place and the ball ends will begin to go into the bridge plate itself. This is why the bridge plates on older guitars need to be replaced. So as more bridge plate material is preserved it will lead to a longer life for the bridge plate. What he does not mention is that after the slots are cut it is much easier to change the strings because you are not trying to get the bridge pin slots to accept the strings.
Just brilliant, coupled with a double ball end as per comments below and you’ll really hear the difference.
Note my Alvarez Yairi has a bridge plate flush with the top which increases string break angle and length of contact and force on the saddle. This produces amazing results so I know this slotted bridge method will work. Genius!
This is definitely worth a shot. I'll try it on one of my acoustics. Thanks for the compelling vid!
I like this idea. It makes good sense to me, had seen bridges like that on some old guitars but (wrongly) assumed it was from wear.
Before I saw your video, I had had this exact modification done to my 1995 Martin D-16T, but I had a Martin-certified luthier do it (Steve Sauve, North Adams, MA. He's builds guitars, too.). I did not have the stones to do it myself. The D-16T is my farmers' market guitar. The guitar was dying because the bridge plate was extremely worn from sloppy bridge pin fit. But I had the repair done in two stages. First the bridge plate was repaired, and the guitar was greatly improved. Then the magic happened when Steve made the exact modification you describe here. The guitar is louder, has more sustain, and, as you said, is better in every good way imaginable. The guitar sounds like a much more expensive version of itself. I agree that the larger companies, like Martin and Taylor, are more interested in profits than tone. Sometimes the old methods are just better. Based on my experience with D-16T, I will (eventually) do this to all my guitars. Thanks for a great explanation. All you doubters, just get over it.
Hopefully people will read this and believe!
Your analysis and simple instruction is excellent !
Hi there. Firstly a big thank you for sharing your valuable discovery. Most Guitar You Tubers have alot to learn or they are keeping trade secrets to themselves for obvious reasons. But as for me I have spend the last 20 years reserching and observing all makes of acoustic guitars with lots of painstaking experience.
Many many thanks again for your channel.
Dude… I had a thin hacksaw in my garage that I used on this old 93 Fender. It plays really good as it is for such a cheap guitar but THANK YOU FOR THIS. This just made an enormous difference in the volume this guitar can put out. I’ve never been able to drown out my wife so effortlessly! 😂
🤣 you’ve convinced me to try this 👍
@@chewyfingers1288 enjoy my friend
I purchase the saws from stewmac but I found it to be easier to use very small drill bits. It also made for a neater and smoother cut.
Can you tell me what actual drill size etc, I’m guessing wood drills but 🤷🏻♂️, also a few tips on how to, technique, angles if any (please) 🙏🏼 m8? 👍
One of the very best videos I've seen on this subject. Martin actually used to do this up until the end of WWII when these extra few steps slowed down production. Excellent job!
Really? So early Martins have this setup?
Great explanation and makes perfect sense. Not a chance in heck that I’ll be making that modification, but would be cool to find a local luthier/tech willing to slit the bridge & install unslotted pins on my next setup 👍🏼
Interesting mod. Would love to hear before and after clips to qualify the difference. Also recordings that could be measured to quantify improvements.
The break angle on that guitar is miles better than many guitars including Gibson's that I've worked on. Some have been so bad that there is no break angle on the first string. This is a very important video and you taught well.
I appreciate it. Back in my repair days I saw the same thing.
Great video, and an absolutely fantastic tip! I will be trying this out tonight (using a Bosch blade with a dowel handle). Thanks!
Man I love this channel. Gonna do this tomorrow!
Awesome video Chris! After you slotted the bridge of my OOO, it dramatically added more color to the tone and increased the volume. Highly recommend this mod. Now I just have to figure out if I have the stones to do this work myself 🤣
Did this to my guitar and it immediately did everything he said! I bought a set of 5 exacto knife hobby saws for $5 and used 1, 2, or 3 pinched together (1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3) for the different strings. I used the trick someone else posted on here about threading the string through the old string's ball ends to get a better contact surface with the back of the bridge, and then cut and sanded the bridge pins down (to offset the added weight of 6 extra ball ends) so they just barely stick out in order to be able to remove them later since they are essentially just for show now.
Great hack, thanks for sharing!
Link to the x acto saw you used?
I was getting ready to make 1 of these ,Instead I ordered 1 from them ,main thing for me is pushing down on the bridge not pulling up on the back and this will do just that thanks Chris
Great video. When I've tried to explain this to guys in the past they think you're crazy cause their Martin or Gibson didn't come like this. I do this to all my guitars. You're talking about two different techniques though. There is the slotting and the ramping. You can do one or the other or both. If your saddle is close to the pins you may not want to ramp and just slot. Usually I'll just slot and not ramp.
The thing about smart people is that they always look like crazy people in the eyes of dumb people. I've completely discontinued teaching people about improving existing designs. They're useless anyway.
They might not come that way from the factory, but the Martin factory sells unslotted bridge pins in their gift shop. Last time I was there I bought some. And, yes, they do sound better.
This actually works very well. Been doing this since I was a young teen. I've done this to many of my acoustic guitars as well as tons of other people's guitars that I worked on. Didn't even buy unslotted pins for most because just like you said, you can just turn the slotted pins around. I did eventually get unslotted pins for most of mine though just because they are more solid (and they look nice). Everyone that I've done this for has absolutely loved the sound when finished, including myself. Truly does make a big difference and I'm glad you uploaded this for people to see because I haven't really heard anyone else talk about this besides the people i did it for after I explained it to them and a few luthiers here and there. Great vid, man!
I think Im going to do it to my Taylor. Thanks for this comment
@@3000LeftyMagician definitely worth it if your guitar doesn't come like that already. Just make sure you're careful. If done correctly, you won't even need the pins because the strings will be "locked" when enough tension is on them. I also suggest cutting off the ball ends of some old strings and running your new strings through the ball end so that the old ball end is flat against the underside of the bridge plate when you put new strings on. Think of the ball end as a tire and the underside of the bridge plate the ground. Instead of the tire (ball end) being perpendicular to the ground (underside of bridge plate) as if it were rolling on it, make sure it's parallel to the ground as if the tire fell over. It adds more surface contact and sounds even better. The ball end trick isn't necessary but it really does make it sound even better. I gotta get to bed but if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll get back to you in the morning. Take care!
@@3000LeftyMagician it was really late last night and I was falling asleep as I heard your notification. So I'm sorry if I made anything sound confusing. But I just edited it to explain it better. Hope I explained the ball end trick well enough. Good luck and I guarantee you'll notice and like the results if done correctly.
Thank you so much for this, I was very nervous and hesitant to do this but now I am for sure going to do it. Thank you for the advice and taking the time do respond you are a great help. And thanks for the tip on the double ball end on the strings! I will take them off my next old pair when I restring em after I slot the bridge.
@@3000LeftyMagician you're very welcome! Glad I could be of help. I hope you enjoy the new and amazing sound you'll be getting. It truly makes a great difference. Have a good one!
Really great video, thank you so much for the information. Top notch!!!
Impressive demonstration, thanks so much.
Seeing how thin the guitar is kinda makes me want to see you put a back on it, put some electrics in, it and make it an “acoustasonic” Taylor.
Awesome video! I just want to say not all brass bridge pins are snake oil, I've put some custom made lighter ones on at least 3 of my acoustics and most definitely noticed the difference. :)
This is just perfect for me. I was looking at the Power Pins but they actually make the breakover worse. I am redoing my bridge on my old guitar and will do this for sure. Great video, thanks.
I put unsloted brass pins on my Hummingbird and a tusk bridge and the sound was so clearer! I was absolutely amazed!
Good stuff! I don’t want to distract from your goal for this video by jumping topics but I’ll try to make this brief. We, your viewers, benefit from this bridge modification but your frontless backless guitars would also be a great teaching tool for demonstrating how and where to affix acoustic guitar pickup (systems, ie: preamp, battery wiring etc.) and would help you demonstrate some sonic differences between sound enhancement electronics even without a full guitar. This came to mind after I read about the late JJ Cale who used a backless guitar to allow him to experiment with pickup systems. An article revealed that he even used a Frankenstein guitar like this to perform b/4 audiences at times. I just wanted to plant a seed for further teachable moments with your chop top guitars. Great content guys!
A couple of wooden braces running from neck block to tail block wouldn’t obstruct the camera or the tools too much, could be detachable anyhow … slice the guitar near the back rather than the mid-point too, eh Driftwood?
I watched this video when if first came out, almost 3 weeks ago. I gotta be honest and say that I was kinda skeptical that it would make a noticeable difference. I tried it today though and I'm blown away! It really does make a difference, even to an amateur guitar player like myself. Thank you for this video!
Aw man! That’s so good to hear! You see that everyone? It really does work.
@@DriftwoodGuitars same here, I had to come back to check the updated comments and I 100% agree, I’m also blown away at how much of a difference this has made to my guitar.
@@DriftwoodGuitars Do yall have a video showing before and after so we can hear the difference?
Hello Chirs. My name is Eduardo and I'm a luthier fro Argentina, in South America. I saw all your videos and I like this a lot. Thanks for all that you share with us
Thanks for this video. I have increased break angle on several guitars using nut files but never cut the slot all the way down. I will try this, it makes sense.
My bridges already have a cut started by the string itself. I was concerned it might spread to much. Maybe a coping saw blade could be used to enlarge it a little.
I'm convinced. The guitars that are cut open and used as learning tools make the destruction of the instrument a logical reason. Is there such a thing as too much break angle, as in, can the string pull the saddle forward with enough tension so as to change angle and intonation or even split the bridge?
excellent presentation and now! you gave me more work to do......love it.
Fascinating! Thanx for the learning!
I would think you could use small jewelers files for this also. A square edge one for the bass strings and a sharp edge file for treble, with maybe a very fine round file to finish off. It would take a bit longer to do, but would be less likely to screw up.
You could also use broken jewelry saw blades of various sizes to cut the slots. How about using golf tees for the pins?
I did this with jeweler files. I used those for feet jobs and they work fine as well.
This makes sense and looks like a simple modification. That being said, even though I am a wood worker and have built instruments, the idea of permanently changing a guitar using a knife or saw is so unappealing to me... To successfully make a before/after showing the difference could definitely be convincing though. Thanks for the tips and content. I always enjoy it
I am waay too scared to try it on my 5k Custom Shop Martin! I may take this idea to my luthier guitar guy, but definitely wouldn't want to try it.
@@angelg8445 Martin Authentic series guitars come like this from Martin. They only skip it on custom shop and standard series because it saves money.
That’s correct
@@jmdbb The Martin Custom Shop will do this if you specify. The Martin Repair Dept will do it for you, too, but only on a genuine Martin guitar.
@Pol Escalante just do it! It's barely noticeable visibly, and holy shit does it make a difference! I tried it on a cheap guitar and immediately had to do it on all the rest. It's incredible.
I bought the saw from Stewmac and did the job on my Guild D260CE. Made a big difference to the tone and sustain. I recommend to do this. It’s not hard to do.
I have a 70s acoustic guitar with the strings wore into the bridge and could not get my bridge pins to hold the string very well, so I went to fabric type sewing store and bought some brass buttons to hold the strings and was amazed and how much better it sounded. thanks so much for this info. Kennyfender
When you're cutting the angle into the bridge slot, abrasive cord is a really good option because its flexible and you can fine tune the depth more easily. At least from my own experience.
What do you mean please explain
Interesting. I would have loved a before and after sound demo to really demonstrate the difference it makes.
Nice tip thank you! I'll try it as soon as I am able!
I really loved this video, thanks so much!
As the break angle is changed, and increasing the amount of string touching the bridge, doesn’t that also change the down force on the bridge from a downward angle to more of a diagonal angle on the bridge ?
Good episode. Yup, that works. Another thing I like to do, is once you have 90% of the setup established, I take a fine needle file and make a slight "U" where the string crosses the saddle. Make the U the same cross section as the string so that the string keys into the saddle. That way the saddle captures the lateral energy and well as the vertical energy. Helps with clarity and definition 😊
I found those mechanisms explained in the first half of the video sooooo interesting and useful.
SO glad to see someone actually making sense and suggesting something that WIOLL ACTUALLY help!
Anyone who plays arch top guitars understands break angle. The late great Freddie Green in the Count Basie band played unamplified rhythm guitar all those years because he understood break angle. He had his action set more than 3/4" at the end of the fingerboard in order to increase break angle (& thereby, pressure) over the saddle.. And of course, it's pure logic that the ball end contact on the bridge plate helps as well. THANKS!!!!
What if you took those "teaching guitars" that you've cut in half, and placed some drum tensioners around the sides, and made a cork gasket to go along the edge, so you could put them back together, how well do you think that, or something similar, would work, so you could demonstrate how what you've done has changed the sound?
I did this mod tonight on my Sigma acoustic and it sounds way louder now! Nice tip lads. Made a small saw out of a hacksaw blade. Split it in half with my angle grinder so I could get it to fit down the bridge pin holes :-)
I have a Sigma that is 35 years old. I got first choice of a truckload brought to the store. Had several set apart. Grading each one on sound and sustain. It out performs most Martins I have had. It is unbelievable.❤❤❤❤
Hi! I own two almost identical Fenix D-50m asian dreadnoughts. The second one I recently bought didnt sound as good as my first one. I did your bridge mod one the newest one and the difference is amazing. These are 30 year old 250$ when new guitars and Im dumbfounded how much it makes a difference!! Both guitars have the same strings same set up. Wow! Thanks you for sharing your knowledge! You help me grow as a amateur luthiers!!!
Excellent explanation and presentation! Thank you.
Here’s an idea for a future update episode.
I’d really like to see this done with a sound analyzer . A before and after example done on a scope so we can see the real world difference. The idea is sound and i can see where it does have some difference. But is it really worth the effort sonically.
ears
Thats super interesting. On electric we want less of a break angle over the bridge saddles. Changes the felt tension a little bit and have less of a chance of breaking a string. Acoustic is such a different animal
yeah, I was about to say that, while it makes sense, you don't really want a HUGE break angle..
maybe an alternative would be placing the bridgepins further back to compensate (of course when manufacturing the guitar)
man, what a detail! tks for sharing
Thank you for this. Very interesting explanation and mod.
My guitar sounded terrible but I found a solution to make it sound amazing. I gave my guitar away to an experienced player and now my guitar has never sounded better 😅
I would imagine that a jig saw blade with fine teeth on it and either a slotted glued handle,or tape wrapped around the fitting end as a grip would do the job nicely by hand,and would fit in the pin holes too.
It would have to be a very thin blade with very little set to the teeth. I'm thinking, not so good.
@@thewaltzinggorilla8533 Bosch, Diablo, and probably other jigsaw manufacturers make blades for scroll work that are significantly thinner (front to back) than a regular jigsaw blade. That might work here. For example, check out the Bosch T101AO. -Tom
You must be a guitar builder. I have been for a little over 4 years and I've yet to buy a tool from StewMac! I have nothing against them it's just become a thing!
I use an up stroke to slot the bridge plate so as not to tear it out like you did . Once that slot is established then I will use down strokes to ramp the bridge. I also will turn the slotted pins around if they are wood or bone. If not then order some new solid pins if they are plastic. Enjoy the video, thanks for sharing.
I just adjusted truss rod on a 100 dollar pawnshop fender fa100 and lowered the bridge and it seemed to lose a lot of tone and volume with the 11’s I put on it .
So I slotted the bridge and turned the slotted pins around tuned her up and she’s back baby sound amazing now thanks for the hack bro very much appreciated!!
So is the string energy greater "in" the ball end, versus any other point of the string because of its larger mass? I've always thought of the ball end as having having no other purpose than to secure the string in place and that all the energy transfer occurs at the point where the string passes over the saddle.
If the saddle is slightly loose in the bridge slot, which I have seen in many acoustic guitars, (even Martin), the increased break angle could push the saddle toward the nut putting the intonation out. This would indicate to me a new tight fitting saddle, and intonation adjustment would also be neccesary.
pin bridges are old technologies that wear out more often than they need .. It’s time to re-design bridges using modern technology. Great show …….keep on rockin
I did this to a really cheap guitar many years and it worked fine, never considered the benefits of doing it to my nice acoustic too, thanks!
Handed in my 0018 from 1972 to a luthier to get this done with some unslotted bridge pins. Really looking forward to getting it back.
Great info Chris! Thanks for sharing your experience and insight! Stewmac now has ‘files’ for this (which come in handy for other projects - a great excuse for another tool!). Is it feasible to fill the slot on the bridge pins with superglue and add some ebony dust and sand round? I’m going to do it.
Two points. First, I'm not convinced this change in tone has anything to do with the slotted/unslotted pin. I think the tone change is entirely due to the increased break angle, so you could get the same effect just sawing the slots at the top, but keeping the slotted pin. It's the bridge that transfers the energy, into the sound board, not the ball end - classical guitars don't have ball ends at all, and archtops with tailpieces are not even anchored to the soundboard at all.
Secondly, and more importantly, you need to be very careful about changing the break angle, because you're fundamentally changing the way the static force (i.e. that due to the tension of the string) is applied to the bridge and soundboard. With a shallow angle, the force on the bridge is mostly downward, but as you increase the break angle, the force is increasingly lateral, pulling the top of the bridge towards the nut. For tall, thin bridges this can distort them, or make them tip forward in their slot, ruining the intonation. You're also changing the force on the whole bridge plate. With a shallow angle, the tension of the string is mostly pulling where the string enters the hole. With a high angle, that force is applied much higher and further forward, and may easily double or more the rotational moment on the bridge plate. Depending on the soundboard material and the bracing construction, this can cause the soundboard to deform, with the bridge assembly twisting towards the sound hole and developing a distinct belly in the lower bout below the bridge. Many acoustics develop this problem over time anyway, but if you increase the break angle, you're only going to hasten this. I'm not saying it's wrong to do this, just that you need to know what you're doing. It's not something to be taken lightly.
Some of the comments are saying they've done this, and how much it's improved the tone, but in five or ten years, after their soundboard has distorted, and they need their neck re-setting to compensate, they may not be so thankful.
Debbie downer
absolutely essential tip for any acoustic, many thanks sir.
🏴☠️
martin guitar forum had a rolling, free set of reamers and saws that were sent to members to then pass on to the next member. i did three of my guitars. reamed the bridge pin holes and turned the pin around and ramped the slot to get the better break angle. mostly i found that the guitars seem to stay in tune longer, of course depending on the weather and humidity, and, did have more sustain. i have one acoustic that i haven't done this to so i'll need to look around for a cheaper saw than stew mac. they are pretty expensive on everything. but, if you need it, then get it for yourself. thanks for this video as a lot of people do not know of this. slow and careful are the magic words.
Saddles absolutely make a difference. Bone is not always best. My favorite is usually micarta (depends on the guitar). I have swapped saddles at least 50 times and compared the difference.
I PREFER PLASTIC. THE SUSTAIN IS OFF THE CHARTS.
Question, what differences do you see in Saddles? You then prefer Micarta and Bone to any Plastic? Thx,,,
Can't count the number of times I've caught myself just before blowing on the screen to clear the sawdust.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
thankyou, just done this to my jumbo koa , sounds amazing 👍
This absolutely changed my Maple Jumbo, the resonance is piano like especially mid to low frequency, btw I tried this because of your video, many thanks man 👍
You should make a PSA for that tire analogy: "Quit spinning your strings and increase your bridge's contact patch by 37% for more sonic traction on those cowboy chords! 🤠 You'll thank me later 😉👍"
Haha I love it
+@@DriftwoodGuitars
Sorry for the offtop, but what do you think of "tonewood debates" in electric guitars -- can we get any predicted benefit from "tonewood" ?
Higher than 5-10% than overall component synergy.
@@iridios6127 bridge to tuners should be practically rigid, so the energy stays inside the strings longer, that's how aluminium necks, chipboard or acrylic bodies sound just like "the real deal". Good material choice and the resulting imperfections in resonance/damping and rigidity color the sound favorably, not the trader printed sticker label. Same as this $ 25 saw might as well be a very low profile nut file or a $ 3 saw or a piece of sheet metal with a single row of teeth cut quickly, the results and ease of use matter, though ;)
@@dushk0
Thanks for the answer, I guess. ))
But I’m not aware of your experience with wood.