Official Luthiers Forum!

Is this common? I suspect that's what Martin used back in the day but I'm certainly not an expert.

Is it desirable?

Chris

_________________
There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

I suspect it was commonly used when BRW was more commonly available. These days, with all of the legal and supply issues, I'd certainly think twice. I'm sure you'll arguments, but I don't believe it adds so much to the sound (if anything) that it would be worth the hassles.

No, they used maple.
Yes.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Thanks Brondel. I have some stock that is good for nothing but bridge plates so now I've found a use for them.

Alan - Your concern with Cites is duly noted. Thanks for the input.

Chris

_________________
There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

I think I may be switching to orange osage. There have been threads (I think here) reporting the use of this wood for bridge plates. The good thing is the ability obtain the wood. I have not had time to do any testing. Maybe others with more experience can add to this thread.

Philip

_________________
aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

5 bucks if you include one of those bridge plates in my package from the sale thread I've always heard that it's one of the best for that purpose as well. Should think so, since Osage is getting so popular and is said to sound very similar to Brazilian.

But yeah, legal restrictions on the transportation of an instrument are annoying. I think I'll only "curse" one instrument with these snippets of wood, for the novelty and to see how it sounds. But if it already has the headplate and bridge, might as well do the bridge plate too. And back/sides if I ever happen to run across the perfect set for a reasonable price (and not pass it up this time)

I have used it for a long time, but I am finding more and more that I prefer maple.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I'd use it if I had some, but only on Sitka/rosewood guitars. On Cedar or Redwood I'd use maple. That is just my preference.

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

I'm with Brock on the maple!
BUT -I use slab sawn wood.
It's much more difficult to crack!
Think pin holes and abusive players shoving strings & pins in!
Pau-Ferro is great !
& cheap!

I have made 3 layered ones with grain 90 degrees to each other.

Now for the can of worms-How thick do you make yours?
Mine are .100-.125 depending on the strings the player wants to use-ie.
Lights-med.or believe it or not heavys !!
I've never had a bridge plate crack between the holes or the bridge since using the slab sawn woods.
Mike

_________________
Mike Collins

I am curious as to why? I've never used maple so I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

Chris

_________________
There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

Interesting you say that. I have steadily been increasing the thickness of mine too and I like the results. They went from .07" at the thin side up to about .10+" now.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I don't know that I can articulate it well, but I think the mids and trebles seem a little more "crisp" and the overall clarity is better. Maybe I am just imagining it, but to me I can hear a difference.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I've never used Braz for bridgeplates, but I suspect splitting could be a bigger problem than most woods. Maple works great. I guess that's why there's so many guitars with Maple bridgeplates. I've also used Osage Orange, Honduran Rosewood and African Blackwood. I "think" I hear the difference in them, but they've all been of different types of guitars. I'm sure any differences are subtle. Put me in the .100"+ thickness camp.

_________________
I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I have a nice supply of persimmon. I think Alan Carruth is a big proponent of this wood for bridge plates - it is tough to split.

One persimmon board is perfectly riftsawn and big enough to cut plates so the grain runs either parallel or perpendicular with the grain of the top. If you can find some persimmon it might be worth picking up a small board just for this purpose.

_________________
John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

We recently completed 5 dreadnoughts, 2 of which have BRW bridge plates, approx .100 thick
The other 3 had honduran mahogany bp, (1 of which is my instrument)

All were red spruce tops and honduran mahogany b & s, as dimensionally alike as 5 guitars can be without CNC.

While I really liked the sound of mine, and it continues to get better as time goes on, deep down I liked the sound of the BRW ones just a LITTLE bit more. Just a bit more of that dry "punch" bluegrassers seem to love. None of them sound dramatically different, but the brw had just a smidge more of everything. We had 3 in the shop recently (the 2 brw and mine) and I had a chance to really compare them, both flatpicking and fingerstyle.

I'm going to start on another deep bodied OM soon with some cuban mahogany for the b & s. I'm looking forward to trying a maple bridge plate in that.

I think Brazilian makes a nice bridge plate. That being said I normally use Maple, although I've used Honduran Rosewood on some recently.

To me Brazilian on the bridge plate ads a bit of zest to the sound (cause you're not fully clean unless you're.....) where maple, in my opinion, tends to be a bit more neutral in tone. I position the grain so that one grain line is not running the length of the bridge pin holes to help prevent splitting. Cause it's no fun to replace a bridge plate!

Mine are around .090-.100 thick.

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

you guys are kidding, right?
actually, i always wonder if i'm using the right wood there.
i just got a thought though,
how about a thinner plate made of lignum vitae?
might be sound deadening, might not.
would be durable as heck.
imo, the material doesn't affect the tone much.