Kanile'a and wood bridge pins

Hey guys. For you Kanile'a owners out there (as well as those that use bridge pins), I was wondering if you've ever changed to wood bridge pins from the plastic ones that originally came with your instrument. I love the sound of my Kanile'a tenor but found that it was lacking 'something'. The other night I switched to a low G string and also replaced the original bridge pins with wooden ebony ones. This small upgrade seemed to give it that extra mojo. To my ears, the uke sounds louder and more resonant. Have any of you tried this?

I did change out my Kanile'a bridge pins to some wood ones. I didn't notice a tonal difference though...I just thought the plastic pins looked tacky.

Lots of acoustic guitar players credit upgraded bridge pins with better tone. I've used brass bridge pins on numerous guitars and sometimes liked the result, but have also found them a little too bright on some instruments. Ebony might be nicer. But overall the result was minimal. In comparison, changing a saddle can have dramatic results.

In terms of physics, the end of the string after the saddle doesn't have a lot of energy to transit to the top. The saddle takes up most of it. But it does contribute some, so it shouldn't be ignored. The typical plastic pin is more likely to absorb energy than reflect it or pass it along to the bridge, so something denser should (in theory) help transmit the remaining energy. Ebony or bone would be my choice. The worst that can happen is that you'll have a classier looking instrument.

For the same theory, I like to use glass or brass beads on my tied string ends.

i have some Koa's on mine

How did you guys know which size would fit when you were ordering them? I have done some searches but those pins seem to come in all kinds of different sizes.

Kauai808 said:

How did you guys know which size would fit when you were ordering them? I have done some searches but those pins seem to come in all kinds of different sizes.

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I actually didn't order mine. I used the ebony pins that came from one of my guitars when I swapped them out for Tusq ones.

Kauai808 said:

How did you guys know which size would fit when you were ordering them? I have done some searches but those pins seem to come in all kinds of different sizes.

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I ordered a set of koa bridge pins from StewMac online -- the ones with the abalone dot. They don't have them anymore on the website, but they have these snakewood ones which are similar (although mine are not slotted). http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Hardwar...ap_Buttons/Slotted_Snakewood_Bridge_Pins.html

I got them changed for Stewmac's too, but I prefer Snakewood pins witch goes better with the rosewood bridge. With Kanile'as you can pick some unslotted if you want. Didn't noticed a real difference in tone tho ..

CouS

I'm kind of curious as what size they are, since as it's been pointed out, there are different sizes. I also wonder if it's required to get slotted ones. I mean there's a channel for the strings, so you shouldn't need one. Why then, are the stock pins slotted? It is a mystery.

One of my ukuleles usedsbridge pins. I just took one out and went down to Guitar Center and got a set of Martin ebony with abalone dots.

Like others have said, no real difference in sound, but they look a lot better especially with ebony around the pins. The black plastic looked really cheap next to the real thing.

John

Switched mine out with some Planet Waves ebony w/abalone dot bridge pins. Looks nice but I don't notice a difference in the sound.