# Pinless Bridge



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

It appears this has been around for awhile but I just chanced upon it today. Is this a good idea or just a marketing ploy.....or both?

[h=2]BREEDLOVE PINLESS BRIDGE[/h]







The Breedlove Pinless Bridge helps maintain the integrity of the top by eliminating the need for six drilled string holes. The fewer holes in your soundboard, the more evenly the sound wave can move across the interior, without any loss of energy.
The Breedlove Pinless Bridge provides a gentler string-break angle from the bridge to the top of the saddle, reducing saddle strain.
This innovative bridge also makes string changes a breeze, especially on 12 strings. Plus, you’ll never again have to worry about lost, worn-out, or broken bridge pins -- and no more jarring string "pop" when you're tuning up and don't have the ball-end of the string seated properly into a pin.


----------



## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

If it's well constructed, and not just cheaply put together, there's no reason it won't work for some people.


----------



## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

Just looking at it makes me think that logically there would be a lot more pull tension on the back end of the bridge. That might cause excessive stress on the top and glue joints without extra bracing, which would kind of defeat the purpose of eliminating the string holes.

Just a thought. I'm sure this kind of thing has been considered before by many luthiers but not implemented, perhaps for a reason.


----------



## LydianGuitars (Apr 18, 2013)

I can see that bridge cracking in the long term.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

bluzfish said:


> Just looking at it makes me think that logically there would be a lot more pull tension on the back end of the bridge. That might cause excessive stress on the top and glue joints without extra bracing, which would kind of defeat the purpose of eliminating the string holes.
> 
> Just a thought. I'm sure this kind of thing has been considered before by many luthiers but not implemented, perhaps for a reason.


*Bluz*, that is the comment I was *fish*ing for.:smile-new: Seriously, though, I did have that same thought even though it looks like a good idea.


----------



## GUInessTARS (Dec 28, 2007)

I owned a Japanese dreadnaught in the mid eighties that had this type of bridge, I believe my ex wife still plays it.
She has never mentioned having any problems with it.
I isn't much different than a classical guitar bridge, many have worked well for over a hundred years.


----------



## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

GUInessTARS said:


> I owned a Japanese dreadnaught in the mid eighties that had this type of bridge, I believe my ex wife still plays it.
> She has never mentioned having any problems with it.
> I isn't much different than a classical guitar bridge, many have worked well for over a hundred years.


True, but the tension from classical strings is pretty minimal compared to steel strings. Classical guitars don't even need a truss rod.

I did have a POS Framus guitar with a metal top-loading bridge way back when but it had a thick plywood top which would be much stronger than a solid wood top.


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I ripped the bridge right off a classical guitar with steel strings, once. 8/


----------



## darksider (Nov 4, 2007)

I love pinless bridges and have had them on several guitars I've owned over the years including my current Lowden. Definitely not a marketing ploy as they serve the purpose of allowing super easy strings changes (great for on stage) and from a design standpoint I think they look great.

Here's one on a Beneteau baritone:



Here's a unique one I had on a custom Cornerstone guitar - it had metal pins set into the bridge at a slight angle that anchored the ball ends - very cool:



Typical pinless Lowden bridge with split saddle:


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Wine&Vinyl said:


> I love pinless bridges and have had them on several guitars I've owned over the years including my current Lowden. Definitely not a marketing ploy as they serve the purpose of allowing super easy strings changes (great for on stage) and from a design standpoint I think they look great.
> 
> Here's one on a Beneteau baritone:


There were some, including me that thought it would put extra strain on the bridge and lead to premature failure by lifting the bridge off the guitar top but on second thought the bridge has more "back end" to it than most regular bridges which would give it greater adhesion to the top, preventing that separation.


----------



## darksider (Nov 4, 2007)

I've certainly seen some cedar topped Lowdens over the years that had the bridges sheared off. I usually attribute it more to mishandling of the instruments than the pinless bridge design. All the ones I have seen pics of that pulled up typically come off pretty clean, so it's an easy repair. At any rate, I love the concept so much that I've never let the potential of this ever dissuade me from owning one.


----------



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

They've been around for a long time and some major builders have used them, Ovation, Lowden, etc. I have a Beneteau with one too. It's easy to ding the top with the ball ends but otherwise they seem to work well.

Peace, Mooh.


----------

