Kanile'a: Ebony Bridge Pins (Pics inside)

Linho

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Hi Folks,

I hated the cheap plastic Bridgepins that were on my Kanile'a so I bought a package of 6 Ebony Bridgepins (Harley Benton Brand, less than $10).

They were a bit too thick but it was no problem to make them fit with a piece of sand paper.

Comparision old vs. new:
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I highly recommend to anyone owning a Kanile'a to change the bridge pins! It really enhances this great instrument!

Cheers,
Linho
 
Yeah it's a pet peeve with mine too. When I got my misi installed, I asked the luthier to fit some new bridge pins. He asked if I had a preference and I just said that anything was an improvement on plastic. He fitted some tasteful ebony and it's just lovely. He faced the slots away from the string though, since the bridge has channels for the strings. You don't need the slots.

Love Harley Benton stuff though. Didn't realize there were HB pins. What a great alternative to us non-US types.
 
Yeah, since the bridge pins don't have to actually hold the strings like on western guitars, it doesn't matter whether there's a slot or not. The Harley Benton ones have a slot.

For European buyers, I bought my bridge pins from thomann cyberstore, I guess they operate all over Europe.
http://www.thomann.de/de/harley_benton_bridgepin_set_ebony_dot.htm

Although it's Ebony it's not very dark, exactly the same color as the bridge. Lovely! :)
 
Yeah i did the same thing when i got my Kanile'a concert i changed the bridge pins right away to ebony ones i had on my guitar..i forgot to ask Joe at Kanile'a why he uses the plactic ones when i went on his great tour..
 
My concern is ,is it possible that ebony pins could shrink or increase in size when the humidity changes?


Why do you think ebony bridge pins would be affected by humidity changes on a ukulele? they are standard on almost all nice guitars..
 
Those look really nice. I did the same on my Kanilea an added some koa bridge pins from StewMac on mine.
 
Got a set of ebony and another of rosewood from Hana Lima for mine. Had to sand down a tiny bit but they are soooo much better than the plastic. Easier to get hold of when you change strings too.
 
My concern is ,is it possible that ebony pins could shrink or increase in size when the humidity changes?

Yes, they will swell and shrink with fluctuations in humidity. But, two things to remember: 1. You don't need to adjust them. They just hold the strings in place. 2. They are so small, the changes in diameter will be microscopic. Hence, no problem.
 
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I owned three different Kanile'a ukes in the past - I swapped the pins on all of them. No problems with heat or humidity and they just looked so much better.
 
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