Dawg's J3 with blonde bridge.

[RustyMadd]

Has anyone else seen and heard Dawg's Giacomel J3 with the blonde colored bridge? And if so, did you think it sounded outstanding?

What's up with that? I thought anything other than Ebony was anathema? I mean the thing sounds great!

Blessings

[Don Grieser]

Red Henry did a bunch of experimenting with maple bridges. https://www.murphymethod.com/index.c...t&contentId=87

https://www.google.com/search?q=red+...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[pops1]

Rolfe put a maple bridge foot on the Phoenix mandolins for a long time now.

[RustyMadd]

Great, and happy Thanksgiving! But do you think they sound good? And if so, why don't we see more maple bridges that aren't threatened as are ebony bridges. I mean if maple sounds that good, why the heck are we buying ebony at all?

[John Soper]

Tradition

[dhergert]

Many if not most violin family instruments do.

Oh, and many banjos do, so it must be a valid choice.

[pops1]

Rolfe's bridges have ebony saddle, maple foot. The ebony, I believe, is denser and wears better against the pressure of the strings. As does a banjo bridge top.

[jim simpson]

I don't object to different types of wood being used or mixed but aesthetically, I haven't cared for the light appearance of the maple. Perhaps if it was dyed dark?

[dhergert]

Many banjo bridges are not topped. It depends on the style, for example bluegrass banjos with topped bridges are pretty common.

But a banjo has much lower string tension than a mandolin, or, for example, a violin. Most violin bridges are not topped.

I'd guess the biggest issue with ebony is renewable resources... But there are other very hard woods, as well as synthetic materials, that could be used for topping.

[pops1]

I have had those bridges with the plastic pieces in between the ebony on banjo bridges. I do prefer the ebony top. I have also made banjo bridges for a banjo mandolin with mahogany and ebony to warm the sound.

A violin bridge doesn't look like it has anything on top, but most use a thin piece of rawhide, scraped thin and glued to the bridge under the E and sometimes the A string to keep the string from cutting into the bridge.

[dhergert]

The insert bridges are also available with bone inserts from a few of the hand-made banjo bridge builders. The old Grovers also had bone inserts. I use both, and with my banjos and my touch, I really prefer their tone over a "plain" ebony topped bridge. My "blind" observation is that the Grover bone and plastic insert bridges both produce similar tone and volume. These are my goto bridges for my banjos that use Grover sizes. I also have one custom large odd size bridge, for a 14" cello banjo, which has a one-piece bone cap over an ebony cap over the entire bridge top.

I think it depends on the instrument, the strings, the soundboard, the setup and on the touch of the player...

I also know Martin has been producing D-style guitars with Micarta and other synthetics for a while; my wife has an early D16RGT with Micarta bridge and fingerboard, and it sounds astounding, comparing very well with some of the best D28s that I've heard. It's a cannon! My personal impression is that the Micarta bridge produces more volume than ebony on that style guitar.

I've never tried one of the old Gibson mandolins that has an adjustable ebony bridge with a bone saddle or an aluminum saddle, but I know they are out there and I've wondered how they sound compared to the full ebony bridge and saddle combination. Maybe someone here can address that thought...

[pops1]

I think it depends on the instrument, the strings, the soundboard, the setup and on the touch of the player...

You hit the nail square on the head there. If it weren't for that we would have nothing to discuss here, and I would miss that.

[RustyMadd]

You hit the nail square on the head there. If it weren't for that we would have nothing to discuss here, and I would miss that.

Ah, but then again we know how the man sounds on an ebony bridge, on a Loar, etc. He doesn't seem to "work" the mandolin in any unusual way and we know it sounds great. I'm just curious and trying to decide whether to replace my current ebony bridge with a CA ebony, a RSW antler, or perhaps there is another option I should consider like maple?

Really, I don't think "traditional" sound is as important as great sound, and so I was wondering how you all felt about some alternative materials being used in tone-critical places. Blessings

[pops1]

If you make a saddle of different materials you can replace it and go back anytime you want. I have made bone saddles, bone topped ebony, rosewood, but seem to come back to ebony. I have had different pieces of ebony sound better than others on the same mandolin too. Made three once, didn't like the sound, so I sold the mandolin. While waiting for the check I made another saddle, when I put that on I wanted to pay the nice fellow who bought the mandolin extra just to keep it. It made an incredible difference in sound.

[Dawg]

The "blonde" bridge was a gift from Corrado when Tracy and I visited him for several days a few years back. It is made of a rare species called Ligurian Bosso (Buxus sempervirens) and had some great tonal qualities. I ultimately went back to an ebony bridge but hope to keep experimenting with it in the future.

[tree]

That's really cool - Buxus sempervirens is boxwood (common name), which is hard as the dickens. It is the wood that 18th century wooden plane makers used to inset around the mouths of the plane because it resists wear so well (called "boxing the mouth").

Boxwood is an old fashioned shrub in my part of the world, found in historic landscapes and very often in old cemeteries. The heat and humidity of the South make it somewhat finicky to grow, and it isn't uncommon to find dead or dying boxwood shrubs that can yield short bolts of up to 3 inch diameter. Best to let it dry for a few years "in the round".

I've got a bunch of boxwood pieces in my shop that I use for various projects from time to time - for some reason, I've never found any bugs of any kind in the wood, some of it is 20 years old and still has the bark on. The wood is bright yellow, dense, very hard stuff.

[Richard Mott]

Boxwood is traditionally used for violin pegs, chinrests, and tailpieces. Beautiful and as others have said, very hard.