Take a ride on a Bell

Comment by Steve Jeter on June 21, 2012 at 11:04am

Id love to!  are you using this 2 foot bridge , rather than your 3 footers you make??

Comment by Tim Twiss on June 21, 2012 at 11:13am

Yes

Comment by Bell Banjos on June 21, 2012 at 11:43am

Cool photo, Tim. This is where I work and live - up close. Steve, my bridges are 1/16" to 1/8" thick on top and 3 times as wide at the bottom. The foot width is one half the size of the space between the feet. The wood is always old. The finer the grain the better BUT some wide grain has proven to be tone friendly if it's very old. Pine or Spruce. I try to use harder bridges with Nylguts and softer ones with real gut. The grain runs parallel to the skin. I cut the slots in the bridge just like I do in the nut.  All this matters. I must have tried 50 different designs, trying to keep close to the Boucher general shape. String spacing is at least 1/2" and almost always more. Three footed bridges, on my banjos, stifle the sound of the middle strings a bit. I think the name of the game is "Vibration."

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