Mandolin Bridge

[Valerie Jestice]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Adjustable-...-/163181673162

Has anyone used a bridge like this? I haven’t seen anything like it.
I replaced my mandolin’s original nut with a zero glide nut, would that kind of be the same concept?

[Greg Mirken]

No. Ick. That's the sort of thing we would see on crappy imports back in the 70s.

[Charles E.]

That looks like a pretty bad idea for a bridge. No string slots so your spacing will move all over the place as you play. Plus it's ugly.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The style of bridges found on the vast majority of mandolins, are used because they've been found to be the most suitable. Stick with those & you'll be fine - &,as Charley says - that one's ugly !,
Ivan

[Walt]

I like the idea of being able to tweak the compensation, but I agree that that bridge doesn't look great. I guess you could slot the metal inserts which would help. I wonder how often compensation is actually an issue, though? I just finished a mini 11" scale, 4 string mandolin, and I made a custom bridge. I wondered if the compensation would need to be different from a standard mando, so I started with a straight line, then slowly filed away until each string intonated correctly. In the end, it ended up looking exactly like the compensation pattern on every other mandolin.
Another concern with that bridge is that you can't really make micro-adjustments. On a standard mandolin bridge, you can file away material a little at a time. With those slots and metal inserts, you have to move in larger increments.

[EdHanrahan]

Sorry that I can't place it, but I'm sure that I've seen that style of bridge before on an (early '60s?) Gibson bass guitar... maybe? Not that I paid much attention but, with all wound strings, that compensation could fit a bass fairly well.

As my mental calculator is taking a break, I really can't tell if the stated metric sizes would fit a mandolin or a somewhat larger bass, but I doubt that they'd be interchangeable.

[Walt]

Sorry that I can't place it, but I'm sure that I've seen that style of bridge before on an (early '60s?) Gibson bass guitar... maybe?

It was on the Hofner bass.

[Walt]

I really can't tell if the stated metric sizes would fit a mandolin or a somewhat larger bass, but I doubt that they'd be interchangeable.

It looks to be sort of in the ballpark of mandolin bridge sizes. I don't know the dimensions of the Hofner bass bridge, though.

[sblock]

Yikes -- it appears that my first suggestion got censored! (It was a coffee mug with a picture of a mandolin and the words "It's not a #$%*'ing ukulele!"


How about this offering, instead?

[Bill McCall]

The style of bridges found on the vast majority of mandolins, are used because they've been found to be the most suitable.

Yeah, you don't want any of that damned innovation. What was Orville thinking, bowlbacks were just fine. And those f holes of Loar, well that was just crazy, they belong on violins, not guitars or mandolins.

That bridge may or may not work, but I don't think mandolins have evolved into the perfect design with the perfect materials.

My $.02. ymmv

[Charles E.]

Yikes -- it appears that my first suggestion got censored! (It was a coffee mug with a picture of a mandolin and the words "It's not a #$%*'ing ukulele!"


How about this offering, instead?

Umm...wrong thread. This is a thread about an ugly mandolin bridge.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Bill McCall - " Yeah, you don't want any of that damned innovation. What was Orville thinking, bowlbacks were just fine."

Do i detect a note of sarcasm there Bill ?. 'Innovation'' is fine as long as it produces 'as good' or 'better' results than whatever went before. Will you be fitting one of these bridges to your mandolin sometime soon ?. I eagerly await the results,
Ivan

[William Smith]

Want to talk about junk bridges, how about those huge/wide 30's Gibson rosewood bridges and saddles that came on Gibson A models and the Gibson budget brands like Kalamazoo, Cromwell etc...

[Bill McCall]

Do I detect a note of sarcasm there Bill ?. [/I]'Innovation'' is fine as long as it produces 'as good' or 'better' results than whatever went before. Will you be fitting one of these bridges to your mandolin sometime soon ?. I eagerly await the results,

My sarcasm was supposed to be more tongue in cheek, but it doesn't appear to have come across that way. That's unfortunate.

But to your (sarcastic) response on fitting one to a mandolin, the answer is 'maybe'. I think you are 'acoustic centric', and not thinking about the problems of putting a bridge on a semi hollow body electric. The metal bridges, like on my Mandocaster, are useful but not attractive, a Brekke (on my Weber) or traditional Gibson style bridge (on my F-5) don't appeal to me for an electric instrument. I'm not a machinist, so I can't make a tuneamatic style bridge either. And on an electric the break angle issue is less due to the lack of need to drive the top, so the flat saddle design on that bridge is less of an issue, although I would think it would still need some modification. The intonation there is variable, though obviously not correct. At any rate, it provides food for thought as to creating an attractive, useful bridge for the aforementioned electric instrument. Its cheap, and might be useful to have in hand to ponder the issues. I couldn't make one for $5.46, assuming a $ value for my retired time.

Ugly and utility are in the eyes of the beholder, and perhaps can be modified with a bit of thought.

ymmv

[Valerie Jestice]

My sarcasm was supposed to be more tongue in cheek, but it doesn't appear to have come across that way. That's unfortunate.

But to your (sarcastic) response on fitting one to a mandolin, the answer is 'maybe'. I think you are 'acoustic centric', and not thinking about the problems of putting a bridge on a semi hollow body electric. The metal bridges, like on my Mandocaster, are useful but not attractive, a Brekke (on my Weber) or traditional Gibson style bridge (on my F-5) don't appeal to me for an electric instrument. I'm not a machinist, so I can't make a tuneamatic style bridge either. And on an electric the break angle issue is less due to the lack of need to drive the top, so the flat saddle design on that bridge is less of an issue, although I would think it would still need some modification. The intonation there is variable, though obviously not correct. At any rate, it provides food for thought as to creating an attractive, useful bridge for the aforementioned electric instrument. Its cheap, and might be useful to have in hand to ponder the issues. I couldn't make one for $5.46, assuming a $ value for my retired time.

Ugly and utility are in the eyes of the beholder, and perhaps can be modified with a bit of thought.

ymmv

You Never know til you try it, might be the best invention yet

[Mandoplumb]

You Never know til you try it, might be the best invention yet

Maybe but it's still ugly!

[Valerie Jestice]

While on the bridge subject, but this time it’s going to be normal bridges.
My Shawnee Creek has a Cumberland Acoustic Ebony bridge, and my The Mixson has a rosewood bridge. Which wood is better? Would The Mixson have better sound if I exchanged the rosewood for an ebony, or is that personal preference?

[Walt]

There are a few old threads that discussed bridge material: HERE, HERE, and HERE. I'm sure a lot of the builders on here have experimented with bridge design over the years. I know that both Red Henry and Dave Cohen have posted on here in the past regarding experimenting with bridge material.

Virtually all mandolins use ebony bridges, but rosewood may sound fine. I think the overall effect of swapping from one to the other would be very very subtle. But there's nothing wrong with experimenting.