Bridge pins

[tylerkbreed]

Thinking of replacing bridge pins to bone .

1. How do you know if you already have bone?
2. Is it worth the money?
3. 

[B0WIE]

Do it if;
-You like the look of something else better.
or
-You really want to change the tone, even if it's a very minor difference and are ok dropping $20 on something that may only make a visual change.
The first is the more significant of the two as you won;t always hear a difference, it really depends on the instrument.
Once you remove them it becomes pretty obvious which are plastic and which are bone.  If you really can't tell, bone is smooth at the edges whereas plastic has seams.  Bone has a resonant sound when dropped.
I just don't like the look of plastic and find that bone can sound a little better in some guitars.  I also prefer the look of buffalo horn to ebony but it's a very subtle difference.  
If you want a sonic upgrade, consider slotting the pin holes.  I'm big on that.

[Bigfish]

Good info as I was wondering the same thing.  Along these lines, I have received mixed info on the make of my D-03 nut and saddle, the Larrivee website indicates bone, but a lot of discussion indicates D-3s contain plastic nut and saddle.  If plastic I assume it would be a good investment to upgrade both.

Thanks for any info.

[George]

Good info as I was wondering the same thing.  Along these lines, I have received mixed info on the make of my D-03 nut and saddle, the Larrivee website indicates bone, but a lot of discussion indicates D-3s contain plastic nut and saddle.  If plastic I assume it would be a good investment to upgrade both.

Thanks for any info.

I believe all the new ones are bone, at least in the past couple of years...  there are some threads on the forum somewhere that cover this topic in depth, if you can find them.  I never have had a lot of luck with the search functions, probably because I do not know how to use this one.

[webberink]

Most people think bone saddles, properly installed, make a discernible difference to tone, nuts too but less so.  Early Larrivees had mostly tusq, a bone like plastic material.  I think it was about 2010-11 when they changed to bone nut saddles and pins on all American made guitars, I am not sure on the Canadian made ones when the change happened but it was some time later.  See Matthew Larrivee's comments on this thread. http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=38730.msg350247#msg350247    The tusq saddles and nuts tend to yellow quickly, bone not so much.
Dave

[George]

Dave

I love those older Canadian made Larrivees!

Me Too!!!

[JOYCEfromNS]

Good info as I was wondering the same thing.  Along these lines, I have received mixed info on the make of my D-03 nut and saddle, the Larrivee website indicates bone, but a lot of discussion indicates D-3s contain plastic nut and saddle.  If plastic I assume it would be a good investment to upgrade both.

Thanks for any info.

As far as I know all Larrivee Guitars nuts & saddles are now bone including 3 series. The 3 series bridge pins are however Plastic. Bone pins in all series above the 03.

[George]

As far as I know all Larrivee Guitars nuts & saddles are now bone including 3 series. The 3 series bridge pins are however Plastic. Bone pins in all series above the 03.

You can tell if they are plastic too.  Most of them have a much smaller black dot in the center and they deform more easily from the string pressure than bone does.  Although bone does sometimes chip or fracture, but does not typically deform from the string.  I have heard that the plastic is softer, but the bone is more brittle.  FWIW I always replace the plastic ones with bone pins...

[eded]

You can tell if they are plastic too.  Most of them have a much smaller black dot in the center and they deform more easily from the string pressure than bone does.  Although bone does sometimes chip or fracture, but does not typically deform from the string.  I have heard that the plastic is softer, but the bone is more brittle.  FWIW I always replace the plastic ones with bone pins...

Plastic (the type used for many nuts and saddles) is to Tusq (I know, still a plastic), as Tusq is to bone...  in hardness, not necessarily in tonal difference.  Actually, Tusq is closer to bone than plastic.  Plastic goes (away) on any guitar I have.  And, if I'm going to go to the trouble (truth be told, I enjoy making saddles) of shaping a new piece, there's no sense fooling with anything but bone.  I've never had a bone nut or saddle chip.  I've never been able to discern a difference between bone and plastic pins tone-wise...  but given a choice, I'd take bone.

Ed

PS: George, did you?  (buy it)

[George]

Plastic (the type used for many nuts and saddles) is to Tusq (I know, still a plastic), as Tusq is to bone...  in hardness, not necessarily in tonal difference.  Actually, Tusq is closer to bone than plastic.  Plastic goes (away) on any guitar I have.  And, if I'm going to go to the trouble (truth be told, I enjoy making saddles) of shaping a new piece, there's no sense fooling with anything but bone.  I've never had a bone nut or saddle chip.  I've never been able to discern a difference between bone and plastic pins tone-wise...  but given a choice, I'd take bone.

Ed

PS: George, did you?  (buy it)

Yep, I did. 

I have had some experience with Camel Bone being brittle and had the shoulder rim around the bottom of the head of the pin chip off a small piece.  I was likely pushing it down too hard into the hole (all bridge pin holes are not the same either).  Bridge pins really do not need to be absolutely snug in order to do the job of holding the string in place.  The side pressure of the string anchor should hold it once it is secured and tightened.  Once a small piece of the tip broke off.  The camel bone pins are the only ones I have experienced that with, other bone materials don't seem to have any issues like that.

[eded]

Yep, I did. 

[L07 Shooting Star]

Most people think bone saddles, properly installed, make a discernible difference to tone, nuts too but less so.  Early Larrivees had mostly tusq, a bone like plastic material.  I think it was about 2010-11 when they changed to bone nut saddles and pins on all American made guitars, I am not sure on the Canadian made ones when the change happened but it was some time later.  See Matthew Larrivee's comments on this thread. http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=38730.msg350247#msg350247    The tusq saddles and nuts tend to yellow quickly, bone not so much.
Dave

It depends what you mean by "early".  The earliest of Larrivee guitars precede the introduction of Tusq by decades.  My 2 early to mid 1980s Larrivee's both have their original saddles and they are bone.  The bridge pins on the 12-string are original as far as I know and they are definitely plastic, though not cheap looking or poor quality.  I changed out the pins on my L-07 a few years ago to ebony.  I can't remember what material the originals were made from, but certainly not bone or I would have left them in.

I'm with Bowie.  If you can't even tell if they are plastic or not, why change them unless you don't like how they look?  Changing them to bone might improve the tone but it will likely be negligible and it certainly won't worsen it.  So invest the extra money in bone or other materials if you don't like the aesthetics of the current ones or if you simply must have bone because that's supposed to be the best.  If you get an improvement in sound, bonus.  If not, you can say your guitar has bone bridge pins (or ebony, or snakewood, or fossilized ivory, or whatever).

By the way, Stewmac sells some really nice bridge pins made of Galalith for a very reasonable price.  They are milled, not molded like plastic so they don't have "seams".  They are denser than plastic.  They can be had in white, ivoroid, or tortoise.  They are about a third the price of bone pins.  I have some of the ivoroid ones, but have not installed them in any guitar yet.  They look nice, for sure.

P.S.  Plastic melts.  So another test for plastic (if you can't detect seams or tell by the sound they make when dropping them on a cement floor), is to heat up a clothes iron and touch the tip of the pin to it.

[tlp2]

Why would you want plastic anything on a nice solid wood guitar?

Order the bone saddle, nut and pins together and save shipping.

 

[Mikeymac]

 
The camel bone pins are the only ones I have experienced that with, other bone materials don't seem to have any issues like that.

I've heard that the camel bone ones create a midrange hump in the tone - have you found that to be true?

[carruth]

   Sometimes it is two humps.

[George]

I've heard that the camel bone ones create a midrange hump in the tone - have you found that to be true?

Ha HA!  No!

[Zohn]

I prefer bone because it is a natural material - it wont deform like plastic.
One way to check whether yours are bone is to check whether they deformed (over the length) or give it a run over a file on the business end (the smell of bone is unmistakable).
I believe there is a difference in tone but I haven't noticed it.

[AZLiberty]

I have mostly changed my pins to ebony or boxwood.  If you have maple binding on your Larrivee, then boxwood is a very close color match.  Hate the way the plastic pins get bent out of shape.

If there is a difference in sound it is subtle.