I exclusively use cast iron cut from discarded woodstoves.

I use rivets to fasten mine to the soundboard, they're hidden by the bridge. The only caveat is drilling and reaming for the bridge pins, it takes a while…
The weight doesn't bother me, it actually balances the guitar nicely on the leg, it is no longer neck heavy.

Doesn't gibson have a patent on that?

If you're looking for thin/light/stiff then just go straight to carbon fiber. There's no reason to use stainless steel in any load-bearing structure where weight matters.

CF gets almost all it's strength in tension. In compression the strength is almost all the epoxy matrix.

wouldn't titanium give a brighter sound though?

Seriously though... if people go to the extent of using brass pins for a different sound why not expoxy a metal bridge plate? Never have to worry about string damage and i would imagine there'd be some type of metal that might rival a wood plate for weight. I know it's not depleted unranium...

Dang, now i'll have to go look that up at some point...

I've heard of Brass pins being used also.I've even read ,i think here some have used brass to back up the plate for better wear.That's why i asked about the stainless steel as it would wear better than wood. Mabey even use a stainless insert where the strings go through the plate.Brass is good for tone, but i don't know about stainless as i don't like the bright tone on stainless fretted guitars i've played in the past.I just thought mabey some has tried it and could give me some insight on the useing it.I have even thought of making a bridge saddle out of it as well.

CF gets almost all it's strength in tension. In compression the strength is almost all the epoxy matrix.

It's not like there are materials that are just good for tone, wherever you put them.

Mark, mom always said "If the other boys didn't like you, they wouldn't be making fun".

A metal bridge plate would be ideal for wear at the string ends, but there is also a down side. Hand builders go to a lot of trouble to make things as resonant as possible, and a metal plate right there would probably be a "tone sink".
We hallow the tone of wood, we dispise the cold ring of metal.

We hallow the tone of wood, we dispise the cold ring of metal.

Hi Hesh,
I took the Mitchell Plate-mate Out of my HD-28 last night and I believe it sounds fuller.
It sounds like would you recommend having the bridge plate slotted and use unslotted pins. And if so,what material would you suggest for the bridge pins.

Jack

Oh no Jack my friend I made no recommendations regarding your D-28 what-so-ever.

As for slotting the bridge and plate and using unslotted pins that is what I do on the guitars I build and not a recommendation for a retrofit on an existing guitar.

On new guitars that are built for unslotted pins the benefit of slotting the bridge and plate is that the string ball will not be pressed against the edge of the pin hole as it can be with slotted pins. When the string ball is resting on the edge of the holes in the bridge plate premature wear happens and shortens the life of the plate AND can lead to the need to have the plate replaced.

As for pin material there is lots about this if you search the archives and some of the threads that are more recent and have not yet made it into the archives. My own current belief on the impact of pin material on tone has me thinking that the differences that some may believe that they hear, me included, are most likely due to the changes in mass on the bridge area that various pins of various materials create. Heavier pins in a guitar that would benefit from more mass in the bridge area may offer a perceivable improvement and likewise lighter pins where the bridge is too heavy may do the same. The trick is knowing what the guitar will benefit from, more or less mass in the bridge area and of course the possibility exists that the guitar is fine as it is too.

The best way to find out I always say is to sit down with your ax and favorite beverage and several sets of pins made from different materials and change them out and play the guitar for a while with each choice. Tone is very subjective, an understatement..... and your mileage may vary from what others perceive and appreciate.

I have a dread that I put bone pins on and it sounded very bright to me afterwards. About a year later I got around to changing out the pins to rosewood and the extra brightness that I did not like went away with the bone pins. This is not to say that bone makes a bad pin but in this case bone might just have been too heavy for this guitar.

Sorry for the high-jack Mark.