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Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | Just got to wondering why Ovations use the quasi-classical style bridge and not the pin style used by most acoustic guitars. The pin style sure makes it a lot easier adjust the saddle. Is the classical style better?
Anyone know the answer?
Thanks |
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Posts: 1196
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | bkok, I think the pinless bridge is one of the best features of an Ovation guitar. And even a better feature of a 12 string guitar. To me it makes string changes so much faster. Someone at Ovation was thinking when they decided to use this bridge design!....Paul Hebert |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I don't see how a pin style bridge makes adjusting the saddle any easier. Personally I change my strings way more often that I adjust the saddle. Dave |
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Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | Well, nothing against the clasical syle bridge, it's just that to get the saddle out to adjust action you have to nearly remove the strings. On a pin style bridge it's fairly easy to pop the strings out make an adjustment and put them back in.
I just was curious if there was a tone or design reason for one style bridge over another |
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Location: SoCal | When performing, a pinless bridge makes it much easier and faster to change a broken string. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | One might argue that on a pinned bridge the strings go over the saddle at a sharper angle and thus would exert more downward force on the saddle and perhaps transmit vibration better to the soundboard. Dave |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Hmmmmmmm........I wonder. The amount of downward pressure. As long as there is secure, reliable contact for the transmission of the energy; that may be sufficient pressure. OK, where are all our sound engineers? I'm probably gonna get "hosed", but what the Hell........ |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | This is a really good question that I have silently wondered about also. I wonder if the extra holes in the top, all so close to each other, or whatever would be used to reinforce them would take too much away from the top vibrations. I am also thinking that the top is very thin, and the current bridge provides a surface area to adhere to spreading the tension, instead of 6 "points" of tension.
Good question... |
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Location: San Bernardino, California | Having the string go through the top would require a different brace pattern and usually a reinforcement plate under the bridge inside the guitar. I suspect the top load bridge was a side effect of the bracing pattern that derived from the placement of the sound holes and/or the thickness of the top of the guitar. |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | I can thik of two possibilities for this choice of a "pinless" bridge.
Convenience, as noted by others.
Reliability, a tendency of "Pinned" bridges to crack from the pin being driven in too hard or just the pins acting like a splitting wedge, I've seen many guitars with splits accross the pin holes.
I think Ovation thought about each aspect of their guitars as compared to "conventional" design and tried to improve where it was possible. Remember, they were trying to produce a modern guitar design with a competitive sound.
Bailey |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The main advantage with the pinnless bridge is that it allowed Ovation to experiment with bracing patterns without having to factor in the position of a bridge-plate & pin-holes.
Did anyone except me spot the way the strings attached on the Folklore-style prototype on display during the factory tour. Almost like a pinned bridge that didn't use pins. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Yes, Paul that bridge was very unique. Not quite sure the rationale. I tried to take a photo but it came out too dark to see the detail. Dave |
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Location: UK | I do have a concern about the extra forces created by not pinning the strings through the bridge. It would seem to me that pinning the strings at right angles to the sound board would exert less upward force on the bridge and surrounding area than the ovation design. Less upward force means less possibility of bellying or the bridge coming free.
There again,hey, what do I know? But I have wondered about it. |
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Posts: 3666
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Actually, what I do know about force vectors would indicate that there would be INCREASED risk of bellying with a pinned bridge. There would be a rotational, dynamic force at the point of attachment, rendering the soundboard more likely to distort. That's a partial reason for the reinforcing plate under the soundboard. With the relatively straight-line force of the string-through bridge, there is less likelihood of this occurring. The added benefit of no reinforcing plate below the bridge should render better overall tonal range, also. Hmmmmm.....maybe that was four cents worth. |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Ovation aren't the only users of the pinless bridge. Many Harmony guitars had pinless bridges, as do Takamine, Lowden, Tacoma, Breedlove, certain older Taylor models, the odd Gibson (e.g. 70's J40) & several other brands. In terms of how torque is applied to the top there is no significant difference between the pinned & pinless bridge designs. Regardless of pinned or pinless a crucial factor is the break-angle over the saddle. Although they have an influence on tone the main purpose of a bridge plate, which is usually a hardwood such as maple or mahogany is to stop the ball-ends chewing into the softwood top. There is no greater or lesser likelihood of either type separating from the top if they are attached correctly in the first place, but a pinness bridge exerts more stress on the glue joint, whereas a pinned bridge actually forces the bridge, top & bridgeplate together. |
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Posts: 69
Location: UK | Seesquare and Paul, thanks for the responses. Just something I wondered about. My intuitive feel is that a pinless bridge must exert more upward pressure on a glued joint, as per Paul's reply. |
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Why don't Ovavtions use a pin-style bridge?