Thinned bridge

[baptist mando55]

Has anybody thinned the bridge on thier mandolin for more volume? seems to me i heard this many years ago at some show i attended.

[Bill Snyder]

Frank Ford shows lightening one up at Frets.com.

[Paul Hostetter]

There is always a downside to hot-rodding like this.

[Willie]

A few years ago after reading that article I tried drilling some holes in an adjustable bridge base, the result was that it killed any and all volume and tone and I ended up buying a new bridge...I feel that if all of tis was gospel that bridge makers would be making them lighter with holes in them....I also have tried thinning them some and found that that makes them more likely to lean or tip over....Of course I am only talking about one case in point, maybe others have had better results and luck.

Willie

[Ivan Kelsall]

Thinning a bridge can work really well on a Banjo,but i can't see it doing any good to thin a Mandolin bridge down.I think that it would result in a weakening of the 'power' of the instrument & a 'thinning' of the tonal response' - making things a bit 'tinny' sounding.
I've taken bog standard $5.0 Banjo bridges that were a bit on the 'tubby' side, & thinned them down to the same thickness as my Stelling bridge,& achieved very good results. If 'thin' bridges worked for Mandolins,builders would be fitting them already (IMHO),
Ivan

[Givson]

There are mods you can make to a standard repro adjustable bridge that can improve the sound (in my opinion). Red Henry has documented that shortening the outside ends of the feet on a bridge can effect the volume and tone of a bridge. I have had good results by shortening the feet 1/16" on each end of the bridge. To my ears, the bass response improved with this mod. Another mod that can change the tone is to increase the size of the gap between the feet where the bridge does not contact the top of the mandolin.