Check Out This Mando Bridge !

[louisiana]

September 30, 2005

Hi folks,

Check out this unique ebony/ivory bridge installed on a used Collings MF5 mandolin that is currently for sale at Cotten Music in Nashville, TN!

I wonder if this would give more treble response to the instrument? #Has anyone ever seen an all-ivory or an all-bone bridge on a mandolin?

God bless,
"louisiana"

[Jim Garber]

I have an all ivory on my 1902 Martin Style 6 Bowlback. I can post pics later.

Jim

[Willie Poole]

Quite a few folks have tried bridge saddles made out of deer antler material and some say it mellows out the sound and some say it makes it more treble and some say it didn`t make any difference at all so it must be something a person should try and then make up his own mind....I have them on two mandos and one is nice the other there is no difference...

[delsbrother]

There are several in the museum at Frets.com, both mandos and guitars.

[steve in tampa]

http://huskyacoustics.com/huskivor.htm

[Pete Braccio]

The first think that popped into my mind when I read this topic was:

Ebony and ivory
together in perfect harmony
etc.

Pete

[Jim Garber]

Politically correct (but only for 1902) ivory bridge from my 1902 Martin bowlback.

BTW are the contemporary ivory bridge inserts above fossilized ivory?

Jim

[Paul Hostetter]

...unique ebony/ivory bridge ...I wonder if this would give more treble response to the instrument? Has anyone ever seen an all-ivory or an all-bone bridge on a mandolin?

I've seen and made all-ivory bridges on guitars and mandolins and even some banjos. It's an interesting material, but not particularly compelling except in an aesthetic sense. For a few mandolin and gypsy guitar clients I inlay tiny bushings (for lack of a better term) of carbon graphite under the plain strings. The point of this is to lessen the wearing of the slots, which can cause string breakage. Crisp slots make strings last longer. The tiny inlays don't affect the sound of the bridge otherwise. Whole saddle tops of bone, ivory and the like have generally proven deadly to the sound, but every instrument and every player is a little different, so it's always worth re-examining.

In some instruments, such as Jim's Martin mandolin above, there's so little ivory it won't have a big effect. On the Collings I should think it would be more pronounced. I tend to prefer a light, hard, resonant wood.

[Bob DeVellis]

Here's the analogous bridge to Jims in ebony and ivory, from a 1902 Style 5 Martin.

[TommyK]

Now there's a thought... duplex or even triplex saddles. #I've heard of guys, on guitars, using various materialed bridge pins to 'fine tune' the tone of each string. #Mightn't be a bad idea with the saddles too. #There might be enough natural ivory in a old, derelict piano key to do that insert. #
Wonder how they got that ivory, or should I say 'ivory' insert to stay put on the ebony saddle? #Just glue? What kind of glue? or did they pin it?