(Sorry, I just like saying "For science!")
We've all heard lots about how great Cumberland Acoustic mandolin bridges are. I was preparing to install one on my The Loar LM-310f mandolin, and since ears and memory can be tricky things, I thought it might be useful to set up a comparison. It didn't seem that anyone had done it before, and I hoped (but wasn't sure) that it might be useful to other folks, but the original idea was just for my own personal frame of reference.
As I stated in another thread when I mentioned what I was planning:
Really though, the idea was originally just to definitively compare to see which I liked better, tone wise. I really like the way the middle 2 courses sound on this mando, in particular (very throaty, like it has an awesome cold, lol), and was hoping the new bridge would spread the magic out.
While I was at it, I just thought that since folks often rave about the difference/change in volume, that would be worth looking out for as well. Obviously, whatever the results are, it's not necessarily going to apply to everybody's situation, so I'm not trying to present it as any kind of potential final verdict...just an honest comparison. I just hate doing a bunch of work on something and having nothing to show for it besides "Well.......I THINK it might sound better.....maybe?"
The idea is to record it maybe 4 times, twice with the old bridge (1 with mic and 1 with JJB pickups) and then twice with the new bridge, both natural and plugged in....maybe with the SPL meter as well (I happen to have one from Amazon that I got for setting up my surround sound). Then I could edit it and jump back and forth to compare the 2.
I did done 3 things for the comparison (while playing the same series of 4 of 5 songs excerpts -primarily chords and arpeggios- but some standard picking as well):
- I've recorded the mandolin, plugged direct, into Reaper.
- Simultaneous with the above, I ran my SPL meter, pointed at (and level with) the mandolin, from 1 meter away...with a video camera pointed at the SPL meter and recording the readings (and incidentally the audio, of course). The meter was set to fast response and "A" weighting.
- Separately, I recorded the mandolin with a large diaphragm condenser microphone, an Oktava MK 219, with headbasket mod.
I decided not to finish the mic part of it, but if anyone really wants to hear the microphone version, I can record the "after" version. I still have the "before" files. I just felt that the "plugged in" version did a great job of representing what the mandolin actually sounded like, both before and after. It's no problem to finish it, I just didn't want to bore anyone with a 3rd, likely unnecessary, video.
It took a week! After multiple days of sanding, with maybe 8 full hours of sanding (more than 6 for sure) to get it from the "raw" bridge base, as it arrived in my mailbox, to fully fitted to the mandolin top. I actually did multiple fittings, but the final 2 were to get it as close as possible, so I could then adjust the bridge for intonation.....and then resand again, due to the fact that I changed the location of the bass and treble sides slightly to shorten/lengthen the string for proper intonation.
The first video is the camera pointed at the SPL meter, the whole time, while I play through each song snippet.....first on the stock bridge, then the CA bridge. I note the peaks in db as I spotted them.
The second video is the same performance, as what you see in the first video, except the mandolin is plugged direct into my DAW and being recorded. I edit the song snippets to A/B back and forth between the stock bridge and the CA bridge.
Sorry for my poor playing (compounded by the fact that I'm aware it's being recorded, lol)
The strings were the same strings for both tests, except I went through _three_ busted E strings. They really don't like being detuned and retuned.
I don't know what the magic of the CA bridge is, but I did notice how much more tightly the posts fit into the hole, with zero play or wiggle. You have to line up the saddle perfectly parallel with the base to put it back on, because the holes are too perfectly sized to allow for any tilt when you're putting it back on. It just won't go.
Notice in the video where I basically pick up The Loar bridge and wiggle the saddle loose from the base, one-handed? That would be difficult or impossible with the CA bridge.
Anyway, I hope these videos are interesting (at least the 2nd one! ) and useful, especially for new folks, or folks who are on the fence about it. Tone is subjective, of course, but there is no denying that a CA bridge makes a significant difference, cos my mandolin is audible proof, and there's certainly no wishful thinking about it!
Feel free to ask any questions, if you have any. There's probably something I've forgotten about, that I meant to mention, so I'm sure I'll post back again.
Oh and let me reiterate that for a Loar 310, you probably want the short version of the CA bridge. Who knows, it may have sounded differenter (haha) if I hadn't sanded the saddle so much (probably not though, since it was like 2mm of wood removed, or less).
Oh and Steve, if you see this, thanks for the awesome bridge!
Thanks,
Bill
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