Bridge pin material vs sustain/tone quality

[benjaminbusack]

Does anyone have strong opinions on what bridge pin material provides the best sustain?

[Ben-Had]

If you are just considering sustain, I would say brass. If you are concerned as well with tone differences you may want to experiment a little to see what sounds best to you because what you like someone else may not.

[MaineGeezer]

I wouldn't say I have "strong opinions." More like "random unsubstantiated theories."

It seems to me that for the most sustain you would want the lightest bridge pins possible, which would rule out brass. But Ben-Had has exactly the opposite view, which may be correct. I have no personal evidence either way, although I have heard titanium pins (light) are supposed to be good. They are also hideously expensive, which may tend to make people who buy them hear what they want to hear.

A friend whose ear I generally trust thinks tusq pins improved the sound of his guitar.

If I ever get organized enough to do it, perhaps I'll make a set of brass pins and see if I notice any difference in the sound. I've got a bit of titanium I could make some pins from, in theory, but titanium is horrendously difficult to machine so I probably won't. There is also the small but real danger of it catching fire, which would be Bad since you need a Class D fire extinguisher to put it out and I don't have one.

[tippie53]

I have learned that it is often the guitar .
There are a few factors one has to accept. Weight / Mass are part of the issue. I tried brass and aluminum. Used once never again.
Sustain is great but don't go just for that. You also need attack. You want that string to power the top . Adding weight while helping sustain can take other things out. My best advice is to get different strings and pins and find the combination that works for that guitar.
I use Bone Ebony and Plastic.

[benjaminbusack]

Thank you everyone for the response. I may try some bone pins next time I change strings just for fun. This guitar sounds incredible already, using plastic pins and light strings. A strongly strummed chord or plucked string rings out for quite a while.
The kit came with a bone saddle and nut and was just wondering if I should have bone pins as well but I can't imagine it sounding better, we'll see next string change.

[tippie53]

plastic pins are pretty much standard.