Official Luthiers Forum!

hi all
OK here we go with an other question, this time it’s regarding bridges.
1: On a steel strung guitar what would be your preferred bridge wood be, and why?.
2: Has anyone experience using denser woods e.g. cocobolo, african blackwood (oh all right Macassar to) etc., over or around 1.0 SG and what was your observations regarding quality of tone compared to less dense woods EIR, Brazilian etc.
I know the variables contribute much and our “ears” are all different, just your thoughts on the subject.
Apologies for he clumsy wording.
yours Geordie

_________________
some tunes on acoustic and guitar synth.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGeordieAdams
http://www.myspace.com/geordieadams

Ebony for guitars made for Med.guage strings.
It helps the trebles to stay alive next to those powerful basses.

Rosewood(BRAZ.) for all other guitars !
BUT if i need a super lite in weight bridge-Walnut or Indian R.W.

Mike

_________________
Mike Collins

What goes with the design of the guitar and what going for, and is strong enough to do the job, which is most of what use to build with, varied ebony, rosewood, acacia's, walnuts, never used maple but never built one would go with.

Well, I don't really have enough experience to make any useful comments. I've only used ebony thus far, but I intend to use african blackwood on my current build, and I'd love to hear any opinions on this as a bridge material.

Ken

_________________
Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Great question Geordie; instinctively I go for something strong & light such as a type of Rosewood.

Although with the current build I am option for ebony this time, with the same bracing config, same species of spruce, same body shape.

Six words:

Brazilian Rosewood...........

(the other four words are "got any to spare"

Also I agree with Mike that ebony makes a nice bridge too and I combine my ebony bridges with a lively bridge plate wood such as Honduran or Brazilian Rosewood. It's impossible for me to consider bridges without considering the other half of the hotdog bun and that is the bridge plate.

I've used all of them with great success, but I prefer to use african blackwood, brazilian rosewood...or cocobolo on a cocobolo B&S guitar. The african blackwood is a bit heavier than brazilian but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing, each contribute their own unique character to the tone, neither one better than the other in my mind, just wonderfully different.....I also believe you need to consider the bridge-plate as an important part of the equation.

Cheers,

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

That's a good tip; I just tend to grab whatever maple is to hand. NO LONGER!

different woods suitable for bridges have different dampening effects on different frequencies just as the mass and density of the wood chosen. The balancing act of matching the wood density and dampening is part of the refinement of the sound produced.

I think it is Alan Carruth's quote that the bridge is the biggest brace on a guitar or something to that effect in that the combination of the bridge plate and bridge makes for a very large and dense mass in the center of what is otherwise a vibrating drum head.

Too heavy a bridge will impede the movement of the top but will help to focus certain frequencies at the expense of others. Too light a bridge material and it will not support the stress of string tension over time which can lead to fatique of the top and diminished sound.

For classical guitar builders in general there is only one choice and that is a rosewood bridge and preferably brazilian for most. Among the veneer thin lattice top classical builders such as Smallman, they have moved to Padauk as it is lighter but still as strong as rosewood.

For Steel strings most will have Ebony which dampens more than rosewood but is very strong. In between black ebony and rosewood but not seen very often in bridges is macassar ebony which dampens less but is in between rosewood and ebony in weight.

hi all
thank you all for your thoughts on this one.
It seems there’s plenty of room here for individual interpretation of materials, with lots of room for experimentation, no bad thing.
Has anyone used madagascar rosewood as its readily available in these parts unlike brazilian, any thoughts as bridge and/or bridge plate?.
Also African blackwood as bridges interests me from my experience with it as a supreme tonewood for wind instruments (OK mainly bagpipes).
skulpter let me know how yours turns out.
yours Geordie

_________________
some tunes on acoustic and guitar synth.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGeordieAdams
http://www.myspace.com/geordieadams