String changing helper

[thefsb]

I put the pin back in its hole after I remove the old string's ball end. A convenient place to keep it. And it's where I needed it when I want to seat the new string.

[Seb_274]

I now have a project for this summer. Find a piece of wood. Sand it down and make it smooth, and voilá, I will have a pinholder. Thanks for sharing

[CharlieBman]

Originally Posted by abn556

I just set my bridge pins on my work bench pad in the order they come off the guitar. That way I get them back in the same hole they came out of.

I guess if I had a pin holder that I would use it.

My feelings exactly.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by tinnitus

Same here. Cool pin holder and all. It's classy.

In a sentence or two, who can tell me what difference it makes to put pins back into the holes they came from?

It depends on the guitar you're changing strings on. The pin's tapered shaft can vary a bit, and pins that have been closely reamed for good fit may not seat properly (with the pin protruding slightly), or worse yet, may not seat securely in the pin hole if they don't get put back in the holes they were reamed for.

The pins that don't seat well can allow the ball end to pull back through the bridge plate. The ball end may not come completely out, but the edge of the hole eventually wears to the point that the string will no longer lodge against the bottom of the bridge plate. Then it's time for an expensive repair.

Some guitars it doesn't matter on, but it's SO much simpler to place each pin in its respective hole after each ball end is removed. The bridge works fine as it's own pin holder, so you don't even have to hunt up your "pin holding helper".

It's such a small effort to prevent possible eventual damage that you may not even realize is happening. I wish more "owner's manuals" would spell this out for newbies.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by thefsb

I put the pin back in its hole after I remove the old string's ball end. A convenient place to keep it. And it's where I needed it when I want to seat the new string.

This. Many times over!

A guitar comes equipped with it's own pin holder!

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

This. Many times over!

A guitar comes equipped with it's own pin holder!

I usually clean the guitar too when I'm changing it's strings so I'm moving it around a bit, turning it this way and that.

If I put the pins back in the bridge to hold them prior to installing strings they'd most likely fall out during my cleaning routine and end up in the universal black hole that collects picks and socks.

[cliff_the_stiff]

Great Idea! I have an ebony bridge kicking around somewhere…

[raysachs]

I have a pick box my wife got me several years ago that I drilled holes in and use for bridge pins when I'm changing strings. Works fine and serves its primary purpose of holding picks too.

0-1 by Ray, on Flickr

0 by Ray, on Flickr

-Ray

[Deliberate1]

When I first changed out the strings on an OM Max Spohn built for me, I discovered that he had etched the pin hole designation on each. That is real attention to detail - where it does not show. Of course, they disappear just as easy...

David

[Mirosh]

Yours is classier than mine - a scrap of pine with 6 holes drilled into it. And E written on one end and e on the other.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by TBman

I usually clean the guitar too when I'm changing it's strings so I'm moving it around a bit, turning it this way and that.

If I put the pins back in the bridge to hold them prior to installing strings they'd most likely fall out during my cleaning routine and end up in the universal black hole that collects picks and socks.

If pins don't fit snug enough for them to stay solidly in place then it's a very good indication that the pins do not mate with a good taper-fitted pin hole.

It should not require the string ball end to put pressure against the pin shaft to hold it in place. Over time that's exactly what causes bridge plate failure. It may take a long time for that to happen, but some guitars develop problems more quickly, like the pins dislodging from the pressure being exerted on them by the ball ends.

I'm not trying to be doomsday, just saying that a properly fitted pin should stay in place without the need for string pressure.

Martin has even determined that fitting pins isn't even necessary on most of their guitars. Tapered bridge pin stuck in a straight drilled hole. I won't comment on that.

[Nickster]

Very cool. You should sell those.