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?
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?
Shawnee Creek #88
The Mixson#1
1945 Taylorcraft
No. Ick. That's the sort of thing we would see on crappy imports back in the 70s.
Shade Tree Fretted Instrument Repair, retired
Nevada City, California
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.
Charley
A bunch of stuff with four strings
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
Weber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.
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.
Matt Morgan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jztTl1mas94
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.
- Ed
"Then one day we weren't as young as before
Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
- Ian Tyson
Matt Morgan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jztTl1mas94
Matt Morgan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jztTl1mas94
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
Not all the clams are at the beach
Arrow Manouche
Arrow Jazzbo
Arrow G
Clark 2 point
Gibson F5L
Gibson A-4
Ratliff CountryBoy A
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
Weber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.
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...
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
Not all the clams are at the beach
Arrow Manouche
Arrow Jazzbo
Arrow G
Clark 2 point
Gibson F5L
Gibson A-4
Ratliff CountryBoy A
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?
Shawnee Creek #88
The Mixson#1
1945 Taylorcraft
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.
Matt Morgan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jztTl1mas94
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