Why should bridge pins be still used on ukes?

I have always disliked those pins on my acoustic guitar. I guess they are needed for the bridge to hold on, maybe? That steel string tension.

Classical guitars do without, so why some ukulele designs do that? And for that stupidity they need to tie even some beads to last or what?
Acoustic strings have yes a ball or rather a cylindrical tieings.

Besides looking ugly, I don't like the idea of them in ukuleles.
 
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All my ukuleles have tie bridges. I have never seen a pin bridge in action until today. I was at a jam I go to where there are a mixture of instruments. One of the guitar players broke a string. He got the appropriate string out of a pack and with the pin bridge he changed it in no time. I was impressed. I don’t think I would necessarily buy one just for a pin bridge, but I wouldn’t avoid one either.
 
Finally got new tuners installed on my vintage Martin tenor (I’ll post pics on another thread). I was so excited to start playing it tonight but one of the pins went flying when I was tuning up. Couldn’t find it for 20 minutes. Decided to put a new set of strings on because that was my plan anyhow, Chee/Maisel reentrant bari/tenor. Gosh, I hate tightening new strings with a pin bridge. It’s like a jack-in-the-box, pop goes the pin. I hold the pins down while tuning with my right palm. These may be the original Martin pins, they’re a bit chewed up looking—does it matter? Would new ones make a difference? Are some of you suggesting beads with the pins? Or should I try ball strings?
 
Do they make ball strings for ukulele?

Kanile'a has an excellent YouTube video on how to change strings on a Kanile'a ukulele with bridge pins. When I got my Kanile'a K-1T tenor I had no idea how to change the strings. This video helped a lot. Especially that the slot on the bridge pin should face the tail of the uke and not towards the nut end.

https://www.kanileaukulele.com/maintenance/
 
My preference is string through bridges because of the super clean look and functional aspect of it, plus - you don't scratch the top with the string tips at all. Moore Bettah, DeVine, and Kinnard ukes all incorporate the modern string through bridges as their preference of choice. Ko'olau does, too ... but also makes many of their ukes with tie bridges. My 2nd choice would be pin bridges with bridge pins! Yup! I love the look and have never had any of my ukes launch bridge pins during string changes. My least favorite is the traditional tie bridge. Although I do own a few ukes with tie bridges, I find them to be extremely HIDEOUS!!! If possible, I always try to buy ukes with string through bridges or with pin bridges and bridge pins. These are MY personal preferences. To each their own. :shaka:
 
Doc_J said:
Personally I like the look of a pin bridge.
Click to expand...

Right. That seems like the main reason - appearance. I like the look of a uke with pins, but I wouldn't want all of them to have pins. I have just one - a Kanile'a tenor. If I make another one, I think I'll use the pins. Another advantage is the large variety of pins available, so you can make a subtle change to your uke.
 
Martinlover said:
Finally got new tuners installed on my vintage Martin tenor (I’ll post pics on another thread). I was so excited to start playing it tonight but one of the pins went flying when I was tuning up. Couldn’t find it for 20 minutes. Decided to put a new set of strings on because that was my plan anyhow, Chee/Maisel reentrant bari/tenor. Gosh, I hate tightening new strings with a pin bridge. It’s like a jack-in-the-box, pop goes the pin. I hold the pins down while tuning with my right palm. These may be the original Martin pins, they’re a bit chewed up looking—does it matter? Would new ones make a difference? Are some of you suggesting beads with the pins? Or should I try ball strings?
Click to expand...

Bridge pin bridges NEED ball end strings. The two are designed to work together. Bridge pins are not designed to resist vertical forces along their axis. Under tension the ball of a ball end string pushes sideways against the pin which is what its designed to resist and it resists well as he pin is captured in the hole.

Kanilea get away with their design because it only LOOKS like a bridge pin bridge. What they do is have a slot in front of the hole so its really a slotted under bridge design which is a good design in my book.

Anyway. Fit a light bead to the end of the string and the design works a treat. A knot in the end of a plain string doesn't provide enough sideways force against the pin to work properly.

The only thing that surprises me is that people can get bridge pins to work at all without beads.
 
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I have no love for pin bridges, and even for my guitars I prefer those with pinless bride design (Ovation). For ukuleles I definitely prefer the classic approach that was probably used exclusively for the first 100 or so years of uke building, which is a slotted bridge where the string with knot at the end can simply be inserted. That looks good and is easy to operate, and strings with tied ends can easily be moved from one uke to another for evaluations.
 
anthonyg said:
Bridge pin bridges NEED ball end strings. The two are designed to work together. Bridge pins are not designed to resist vertical forces along there axis. Under tension the ball of a ball end string pushes sideways against the pin which is what its designed to resist and it resists well as he pin is captured in the hole.

Kanilea get away with their design because it only LOOKS like a bridge pin bridge. What they do is have a slot in front of the hole so its really a slotted under bridge design which is a good design in my book.

Anyway. Fit a light bead to the end of the string and the design works a treat. A knot in the end of a plain string doesn't provide enough sideways force against the pin to work properly.

The only thing that surprises me is that people can get bridge pins to work at all without beads.
Click to expand...

The only time a had a problem was with a fluorocarbon A string pulling through the slot in the hole of a Kanile'a tenor. No matter how big I made the knot. I finally used a bead and never had a problem since. I use beads on all the strings just to be sure.
 
anthonyg said:
Bridge pin bridges NEED ball end strings. The two are designed to work together. Bridge pins are not designed to resist vertical forces along there axis. Under tension the ball of a ball end string pushes sideways against the pin which is what its designed to resist and it resists well as he pin is captured in the hole.
Click to expand...

Ah! I will try a bead with these strings to try and mimic the ball. There is no little slot for my fat strings to rest in, so I thought that was the issue.
 
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When I bought a new GL6 K-1 Premimum from Kanile'a it shipped with plain old knots lodged under the bridge pins and worked fine save for the 1st string. The first string was jammed under the bridge plate and I had to work it loose with a hat pin, so I installed a bead on the replacement and all was well for the next string change.
 
My Iriguchi has a string-through-bridge. I’m not sure what impact on tone there is, but I like the clean look of it. 29F7AE11-D6AA-4CDA-84CD-35829C9CFE1C.jpg
 
I like things simple.
I dont want to bother finding out where to get proper beads or be restricted to that one brand of strings with ball ends.
I dont have a pin bridge ukulele yet.
This far I slightly prefer a plain tie bar over the design with the hidden knot, despite the clumpsier look, since I have had a few knots come undone or popping through.

If the Kanilea pin bridges work with knots due to that slot, they scare me a little less.
 
I like things simple.
I dont want to bother finding out where to get proper beads or be restricted to that one brand of strings with ball ends.
I dont have a pin bridge ukulele yet.
This far I slightly prefer a plain tie bar over the design with the hidden knot, despite the clumpsier look, since I have had a few knots come undone or popping through.

If the Kanilea pin bridges work with knots due to that slot, they scare me a little less.
 
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I like my bridge pins on my Kanile’a. Not the best looking plastic (which I have), ebony is sweet in my opinion however. I like the string changing process the best personally.
 
I disliked bridge pins for a long time. But they keep the top clean. Unlike a string-thru bridge, you can deal with the string without having to go in the uke.

I have to admit that I like the look of the string-thru bridge more. But check out my last purchase, from Jay Lichty.

https://lichtyguitars.com/2018/10/17/custom-cocobolo-baby-bard-g116/

This thing takes a bit of work to change the strings, but I totally love it over any other bridge option.
 
prb035 said:
Congratulations Abe, that is a really beautiful instrument! How is it strung? :D
Click to expand...

Thanks! At the moment it's eaDGBE. So it's like a guitar with the 5th and 6th strings up an octave, or a baritone uke with two reentrant strings. Mine's 19", so linear E to E is tough, but A to A works well, too.
 
ukuleleabe said:
I disliked bridge pins for a long time. But they keep the top clean. Unlike a string-thru bridge, you can deal with the string without having to go in the uke.

I have to admit that I like the look of the string-thru bridge more. But check out my last purchase, from Jay Lichty.

https://lichtyguitars.com/2018/10/17/custom-cocobolo-baby-bard-g116/

This thing takes a bit of work to change the strings, but I totally love it over any other bridge option.
Click to expand...

Wow! Great looking instrument. So, do you have to fish the strings all the way to the top of the upper bout to change them?
Are both sides sound holes? I couldn't quite tell if the right one was open or a bevel.
 
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