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Topic: Tone bar weights |
Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 4 Jun 2019 1:46 pm |
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The bar I've used ever since I started is a standard ⅞" x 3¼" which I bought because it was the only one in the store. Anyway, I like it. It weighs 8½ oz. and is completely solid stainless steel with nothing on the base to identify it.
Today I broke out the spare one I bought more recently, a Dunlop 920 which is the same size but magnetic and only 7½ oz. Fine for emergency use but I don't really like it.
Who makes an 8½ oz. bar? I looked on the Forum store and I'm confused because the John Pearse is headlined as 9.1 oz. but it says 8.1 oz. in the description.
I know there is a vast choice of materials available now, but where do I go for plain old stainless?
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 4:36 am
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Here's a rare picture of my two guitars in the same room. I have been comparing the 8.5oz and 7.5oz bars on the two instruments.
The Williams has a 24¼" scale and the Excel is 25½". Both use the same gauge strings (so the Excel is a lot tighter) and they have the same Alumitone pickups, so comparing the sounds is meaningful.
I find that on both instruments the lighter bar gives a thinner tone and that I prefer the heavier one. I wondered if for some reason the light one might sound good on one of them, but no.
I have further discovered that BJS make a plain 8.5oz bar which is 3⅜" long but I don't think the extra eighth of an inch will throw me so I might get one of those unless someone jumps in and warns me off 
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 7:07 am
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I would also try a nickel bar, richer tone. 
Erv |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 8:41 am
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Who makes those? I'd certainly try one.
I wish I'd paid more attention when bars were being discussed but it's only now that I'm interested
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 8:47 am
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BJS makes the best nickel bar out there.
Smooth, with a capital S!
I have another suggestion for you, use nickel strings, not stainless.
You get a richer, creamier tone from nickel strings.
Also, the bar slides over them easier.
Erv |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 9:14 am
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Thanks, Erv - I'll check that out.
I've never used stainless strings - somehow the idea doesn't appeal.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Ross Shafer
From:
Petaluma, California
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 9:15 am
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I thought that all BJS bars are steel with a hard chrome coating...nickel plating is commonly used under chrome, but nickel plating on its own would wear pretty quickly used as a tone bar. I don't know of anyone making a bar out of nickel itself.
Just for my own curiosity, I just searched around for nickel bar stock prices way spendy stuff. There's a number of different alloys, but all I looked at were well over over $100 per foot for 1" bar. I really don't think anyone is producing a production nickel or nickel plated bar. Would love to learn about them though if someone really is.
Also something to keep in mind is that the difference between nickel and stainless strings is just the winding material and does not affect the plain strings. |
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Ross Shafer
From:
Petaluma, California
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 9:16 am
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oops, double post
Last edited by Ross Shafer on 6 Jun 2019 9:42 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Bobby D. Jones
From:
West Virginia, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 9:37 am Tone Bar Weights
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There are many metals called STAINLESS STEEL. Some stainless steels have enough carbon and such to actually be grabbed by a magnet. I have 2 Dunlop 921 stainless steel bars that a magnet will grab. They have to have this combination of metal so they will be hard enough for a good tone.
I have experience with the hard stainless steel, As a police armor I worked on many pistols that were stainless steel, Did not rust, But a magnet would pick the up. |
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Ross Shafer
From:
Petaluma, California
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 9:51 am
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You got that right, there's a ton of different stainless steels and new ones coming all the time.....this has nothing to do with steel guitars, but is a fun fact about some stainless steels that I find quite interesting.
Some non-magnetically attractive stainless steels will become magnetically attractive when bent, work hardened or even machined in some cases. I learned this while developing MRI room accessories that required no magnetic attraction.
OK sorry for the digression, back to bar weights, I like 'em heavy...though I can hardly claim to be a steel player anymore (I sure tried for a while!) my favorite bar weighs around 11 oz. (1" x 3.25") It's an acetal resin (aka delrin) that is hollowed out and filled with a very dense secret sauce combo. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 10:01 am
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Ross, that's an enchilada.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 10:10 am
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Ian,
One of my most favorite bars is the JBS, John Hughey model.
It is a 15/16" bar that is drilled out to weigh about the same as a 7/8" bar.
It's the bar that John Hughey used.
Erv |
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Tommy Mc
From:
Middlesex VT
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Posted 6 Jun 2019 4:35 pm
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| Ian, Regarding the John Pearse bar, it's labeled as (7/8" x 3-1/4") 8.1 oz. I just weighed mine and it is actually 8.4 oz. Out of curiosity, I weighed my old Emmons bar. It's the same size and weighs 8.8 oz. I never noticed the difference. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 7 Jun 2019 2:19 am
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John Hughey presumably liked the feel of a fatter bar but didn't want the extra weight. The bar I have been using which I like but can't identify is solid - the base is just a blank flat end. If the Pearse bar is really as heavy as Tommy says, and I don't doubt him, then it could easily suit me.
The 7½oz Dunlop bar is hollowed out to some extent which is frustrating as it would probably be fine if they'd left well alone!
Ross and Bobby's comments on stainless steel in general are a reminder of how the more you learn the less you know
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Chris Schlotzhauer
From:
Colleyville, Tx. USA
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Posted 7 Jun 2019 6:45 am
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| Erv Niehaus wrote: |
Ian,
One of my most favorite bars is the JBS, John Hughey model.
It is a 15/16" bar that is drilled out to weigh about the same as a 7/8" bar.
It's the bar that John Hughey used.
Erv |
Hey Irv, I'm looking at the BJS page because I really need a new bar. I notice the 7/8 Hughey bar is 7.4oz vs 8.5.
I'm not sure if I want a lighter bar because I have been using my 8.5oz....but I might be willing to try the lighter one. Is there an advantage for lighter? |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 7 Jun 2019 7:26 am
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Chris,
I have the 15/16" John Hughey bar.
I like it for its size and being a little lighter weight. I would suspect the 15/16" bar would weigh in at approx. 8.5 oz.
I have always used a 7/8" bar but decided to go with a larger bar and now I prefer it.
I don't have large hands but I like the feel of the 15/16". |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 7 Jun 2019 10:48 am
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The BJS website gives all the weights and dimensions.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Russell Adkins
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 8 Jun 2019 8:15 am
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| Has glass been tried as a bar and different types of resins as well? |
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Russell Adkins
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 8 Jun 2019 8:22 am
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| Has glass been tried as a bar and different types of resins as well? |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 8 Jun 2019 10:51 am
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Many types of materials have been tried for bars. Metals, resins, plastic, and other materials that I don't really know what they are.
One place:
https://rockymountainslides.com/tone-bars/
Basil Henriques makes what I hear are some awesome bars. I don't have a website for him
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 55 years and still counting. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 13 Jun 2019 7:04 am
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Well in the end I ordered a John Pearse bar from the Forum and it arrived today - how's that for service!
And Tommy Mc is right - it does weigh 8.4 oz. so it's perfect as far as I'm concerned. I like the sound and feel and I'm another satisfied customer!
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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