Banjo Bridges by Bartequal opportunity bridges: no matter how manystrings: banjos love them and so will your ears |
 Please note: Archies are thin, real thin - you need to loosen, or slack off, the strings and/or tail piece tension before installing them. |
1 - Archie: a lean and mean
bridge designed especially for archtop banjos. Although
too bright to some [usually older] ears, Archie can sure
make your flat top stand out from the crowd as well - try
one on an OB250, or similar, and you'll be scratching
your head wondering where all that sound you never knew
you had all of a sudden came from. Compressed sustain
allows a musician to exploit the full range of sound
dynamics from raw power growl to melodious sweetness that
Archie liberates from your banjo. Made from genuine
Firewood - MORE $30 |
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2 - Ebony topped teak for
plectrum (4 string) banjos. Custom designed for Joe C. in
Texas who had special requirements to accommodate his
Celtic style playing. Exquisite tonal balance from string
to string, no more flubby sounding 4ths. Superb dynamic
sound range. $25 |
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3 - Radiused bridges: both
bridge wood and top are radiused for supurb sound, tone
and stunning looks. The radius (12, 14, 16 or 18 inch) is
a $10 upgrade option for any of the bridges I make. Of
course, you still get to specify height and string
spacing. As shown: standard 3 footed bridge + radius = $35 |
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4 - The finest custom clawhammer
bridge anywhere designed by a clawhammer player
specifically for clawhammer players. Untopped mystery
wood for a superb tone range from plunk to clear as a
bell. The raised 5th string (specify 1/16, or 1/8")
helps prevent your thumb from making that annoying pffft
pffft sound on the head - a low cost alternative to
scooping the neck... $35 |
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5 - Mystery wood,
ebony - explosive sound, fabulous for 100 mph bluegrass
picking. Ideal for any picking style. If you want to
sound as Earl, or as Don, you can get, this is the bridge
for you. $25 |
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6 - Same as above,
no topping. A smidgen mellower sound, awesome for
clawhammer or all out "pre-war" on Mastertone
style banjos. Wildwood banjos, or anything with
Fyberkin/Elite heads love this one in B weight. The B
weight one is also *the* bridge for Odes. $25 |
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7 - Teak - great
volume and superb dynamic range, ebony topped for great
clarity, mystery topped for max brightness. Especially
suitable for budget or medium price banjos (not
recommended for Stellings). $25 |
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8 - Enigma (another
mystery wood), ebony topped - clear, bright and neutral
sounding, superb volume. The Enigma bridges get along
great with EQ settings on sound systems - Stellings
absolutely love them. $25 |
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9 - Ebony topped
mystery wood, don't let the only-two legs bother you, a
super sounding all-purpose bridge at a budget price. Two
legs only have to advantage of muting the banjo head in
two spots only compared to the "regular" three
spots allowing the head to vibrate more freely. $15 |
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10 - Period bridge for tenor
banjo, custom slotting available for Celtic setup string
specs. $25 |
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11A - Two custom compensated
(mystery/ebony) bridges to illustrate the different shape
curves you could expect. On this picture, despite the
extreme compensation values, the difference is barely
noticeable but check the top view on the next picture to
get a better idea. This is really what custom compensation is, or should be, all about. If you want to make your intonation problem(s) really go away then this is the way to go, your banjo and your ears will definitely appreciate it. Custom compensated bridge: $40 |
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11B - The same two bridges: the
sweetspot offsets for the bottom one are much greater
than the top one. Actually, the offset values for the top
one are about as severe as I've encountered and it goes
to show you that it won't look weird. The offset
measurements for strings 1 through 5:
Custom compensated bridge: $40 |
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12 - A custom order for a period bridge to go on a 1846 Boucher banjo that's being restored. The dimensions were traced from the one on display in the Smithsonian. |
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13 - Variable Radiused, ebony topped mystery wood. Talk about a custom job, the topping was even steambent to the required loopy radius shape for the best possible sound. |
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My first ever custom compensated
bridge to make a British Windsor, Standard, banjo toe the
intonation line. Definitely a museum piece, it looked
like heck but sure did the job and turned an ornament
into a playable banjo. Only 3/8" tall and,
realistically, that's about as low as I care to make them
although I did 1/4" bridge one time. Looking at the picture now I can still smell it - at the time the only tool I had for shaping was a bench grinder... |
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Another museum piece: one of my earlier custom compensated solid maple jobbies for an Ode D. I sure make 'em look and sound nicer than this now |
The thing to keep in mind, no matter what new bridge you put on, the sound will always be different than what it was with your old bridge - you'll be real pleased to hear what these bridges will do for your banjo's sound.
Copyright © 2003 Bart Veerman
No reproduction of these pages or content therein without permission
