Bone pins

I was prepared for an extensive sanding process but lo and behold these pins fitted perfectly on my replica 000-28. They look great and my brain seems to think that they improved the guitars tone. So, a win-win all around. Recomended.

This review is from a satisfied customer with REASONABLE expectations. (1) The pins I got from Blisstime are definitely bone, and I received all six. (2) I am a long-time player with some luthierie experience, so sanding/reaming the brindge holes wasn't scary, but I definitely recommend sanding over reaming, because one can always get a new set of pins, but bridge hole repair is tricky to do or expensive to have done. (3) Pins should fit SNUGLY. Loose pins absolutely will give mixed tone results. (4) Poor fit is probably the pin size, but be aware that the smaller the builder, the greater the chance that the holes were reamed individually to fit the pins that were available, and an older guitar may have had some reaming done (again, I do not recommend reaming, even though it's faster and easier). (5) This is a natural product (if it is indeed bone), so breakage is possible. These are so inexpensive that you should probably get two sets for these two reasons: a. with 12 pins, you have a better chance at getting six that fit on the first pass, and b. if you do break one or several, you have backups. (6) I cannot address plastic vs bone but to say that I did get bone and my tone and sustain improved (Martin Road Series, which comes with plastic pins). When bone pins were hard to find and expensive, only the best guitars got them. Now that they are avaiable and cheap, any guitar's tone should improve greatly WITH PROPER installation. Be prepared to sand them, which is a bit tricky and takes some time, but worth it when funds are tight.

Overall, I am happy with the purchase. As others have said, it does appear to be manufactured in a mold of some sort. I think it is bone, but possibly a mixture of some type. Not really sure though. For my Guild DV 52, I had to file each one to get it to fit properly. I would rather start with a piece too big and file it, than the opposite. I used a metal file. I believe a stationary belt sander would work, possibly with less effort. I would probably purchase these again.

Interesting customer experience: I originally received a set of plastic pins meant to look like bone and I left a correspondingly poor review; I also requested a refund and notified Amazon about the misleading listing.I was contacted by the seller who informed me about problems with other vendors selling the same pins but made of plastic rather than bone. She suggested my order may have been filled with one of these fake sets and offered to send me a genuine bone set for no charge.She was very polite and apologetic and did not ask that I modify my original one star review. But I'm happy to do so now that I've received the pins and confirmed they are in fact real bone.The way to check is to use a small file (even a coarse nail file will do if you don't have tools handy) and scrape a small amount from the bottom of the pin. You may need a magnifier to see it but plastic filings have a fibrous appearance while bone is more purely granular. A sniff of the file should also reveal a telltale bone smell (if you've ever had a tooth drilled you know it).Speaking of filing bridge pins, check out StewMac's tips page for a helpful video on keeping string ball ends from riding up the pin slots by putting a 45 degree angle on the bottom. It'll improve your tone and help avoid bridge plate damage.These pins are the real deal and the abalone stamps on the tops are attractive to boot. I put them on my Martin OM-1, replacing the stock plastic ones. They not only look better, but after applying the 45 degree trick and setting my string ends right, it seems to me the tone is not only louder and richer. I'm happy to find a relatively inexpensive source for these.

These pins are standard size and work in the guitar I put them in. They are very beautiful and were a little whiter than I expected, but that's okay. I think the problem with the other reviewers may have been that, depending on the wear on the pin holes, the standard size pins won't hold a string down. I recommend these pins for a newer guitar and a well known brand name pin set for an older guitar. There is one brand that I know of that makes their pin a little longer and larger to compensate for time and use. They stick out farther than these. This is a great product though, and along with new strings, I was able to get some really rich tones. (Not that I know that the pins make much of a difference in tonality) I'm just a beginner level guitarist.

Installation was lowkey kinda difficult but that was on my part because I was refurbishing the guitar, it’s an old beauty. Some of the bridge pins would go in easily and some more kind of difficult, but overall it worked in my favor and installed amazingly. Stability is great and firm. Fit guitar well. Color is opal gradient shades, which made the guitar out of this world.

They look great, and mine were definitely real bone. They have an oversized string slot, which leaves the edges very thin and brittle. Slightly oversized and would not fit all the way down on my Martin, but neither did the original plastic pins, so not really a big deal. The thinness caused 2 to crack on first install. That's not a superbig deal, as they are really inexpensive, and they still hold the strings just fine. I got this brand because I have ordered ebony past and really like them. They are wood, so no fragility issues like with the bone. I got bone to match the original color but have done some research and found that classic Martins had ebony pins, so I have ordered a new set of them to replace these on the next string change.

You could pay up to $50 for a set of bone pins that are not any more good looking or great sounding as these. Fit and finish on these is top grade. I have changed out ebony/plastic pins on 6 recent Alvarez guitars and the fit was perfect, and let me tell you I can tell the sound was improved. I have used them on 3 Yamaha that fit perfect. They were not a perfect fit on my Martins....I had to ream out the holes to make them fit. I have purchased 15 sets of these. Very satisfied. The Blisstime saddles are also top notch at very reasonable prices.

I'm very happy with the guitar pins. They are real bone to just like it says.

Good quality

Très belle apparence cependant il s'agit d'un matériel composite et non de l'os selon mon luthier. Ça demeure un bon achat pour la qualité...

I ordered these as spares and I haven't had a chance to use them yet, but they look good

exactly what i want