The Steel Guitar Forum

Over the winter I replaced the rosewood bridge on an old Harmony f-hole guitar with an ebony bridge from StewMac. I was really surprised with how much it enriched the sound.

I thought I might try something similar on my Rickenbacker B6 (T-logo, 1946 to 49). This is the one with a single piece pickup cover and tailpiece. The bakelite bridge attaches with two screws.

Luckily I found a nearby shop that has supplies for woodworkers. They sell 6 inch by ¾ inch square blanks of various hardwoods, most of which are very reasonably priced. $4 range Canadian for a piece of African Ebony.

I have only home carpentry experience. I used a table saw to cut the blank down to the basic dimensions and a Dremel oscillating saw to shape it.

The final product was bit rustic but tonally I’m really pleased with the result. It gives me a richer, more defined tone on the 4th, 5th and 6th strings. Also string volume across the strings is a more consistent.

I thought I’d share this. I know there are many much more experienced woodworkers out there. If you have the time and inclination it opens up some interesting tonal possibilities.

Ted,
I also did that to my B6 many years back.It made an incredible difference. Never had any luck finding a small enough piece of ebony until a friend ( who rebuilds old player pianos)sent me some old ebony keys from his shop stock.
Good job on the bridge...!! That stuff is hard as a rock, tends to chip, and not easy to work with.
gary

Hi Gary,
It's very nice to hear that someone else made the same experiment. And that they had the same result! That’s very cool that your ebony was recycled from an older instrument.
Thanks for the encouraging words. It’s an interesting wood to work with, amazingly heavy and dense... I think I might have had a bit of beginner’s luck with the woodworking
Ted

Those blanks - 3/4" by 6" or so - are known as "pen turning blanks." Making wood pens is a pressing need I guess. They come in all SORTS of wood, and some really nifty swirly plastics (better suited for knobs). I snuck a brass rod in front of the bridge on an MSA Superslide for similar screech control purposes.

They come in all SORTS of wood

Yep, kid in a candy shop.

I replaced the bridge on my B7 with one I machined from bronze & had chrome plated. I made it identical to the original. The bronze came from a 1 inch (bent !) prop shaft from my boat. I can't say it improved the sound any though. Maybe that Ebony has a secret !

With the chrome plating that must look pretty classy! I've read that some people have had success using phosphor bronze for bridges and nuts. Melbert Guitars comes to mine. Too bad it didn't make much of a difference for you. (But that's assuming you were looking for a difference.)
Ebony is very dense. And it's much heavier than some of the other blanks I picked up, for example the Birdseye Maple. Maybe these things factor into it.