Thought i would update the bridge pin change i made. The ones i made originally were never intending on being the final ones, as they have a slot cut into the post that is not necessary, and the ebony was not the best looking.
Today i got in my set of 6 ebony guitar bridge pins from Stew-mac,.....unslotted, and the ebony grade is much better.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Hardwar...trap_Buttons/Unslotted_Ebony_Bridge_Pins.html
They originally stuck up about 1/8" too high. I pushed them onto the open jaws of my Foredom flexable shaft handpiece while it was in my workbench mounted vise. Carefully pushed on while spinning, it self centers and spins true. Then a small file was used while the pin spins and i could turn down the shaft to get close. (easy to pull the pin out of the handpiece and check the fit often) When it was close i used 320 grit sandpaper, and when really close finished up the shaft with 600 grit paper. The ball ends were similiarly finished off with 600 grit paper, but additionally brought to a high polish with a jewelers polishing compound and small wheel.
All the main work was done while the new pins were full length, as the handpiece jaws leaves small grooves in the ends. Those sections are cut off in the end anyway, but it's much easier to work on the pins this way.
I decided to make them with a little more rounded defination to the top, and fitted them really close to each individual hole. To keep them straight, i came up with a simple way to number them that is easy to see and looks pretty cool. I had some small round ball burs that i cut into the tails of the pins, and painted white into the holes for easy visability. When changing strings it will be easy to get them into the right holes.
Here you can see the more rounded profile of the mushroom heads. The white plastic pin is one of the originals, the long ebony pin one of the extras from the set of six just purchased. Overall length of the new pins is just 15.5 mm, and they clear the knots by about 1/8" or so.
...top view:
.....and the height savings over the original. With the factory bridge hole camphoring, there is plenty of room to get a thumbnail under the pin lip to lift them out when needed.
One other thing i will do when i change the strings is to rig a small sander to work off the small burs and splinters generated when the drilling thru the bridge and top was completed at the factory. Not necessary, but it will be cleaner and the string knots will seat faster. (and release easier when getting a string out)
You can see the splinters with a mirror and flashlight, and since this is a keeper i'll do the little extras.....
