Ebony bridge caps

[Ron Nossaman]

> Moreover, I guess I should ask:  If boxwood caps are acoustically superior,
> why would anyone settle for maple, maple laminated (or reconstituted) or
> anything else for that matter?  My experience with replacing boxwood caps
> with epoxy hardened or laminated caps has not demonstrated any noticeable
> drop-off in tone quality.  But, subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) things
> have certainly gotten by me before so--inquiring minds want to know, what's
> the real story?
> 
> David Love


I don't know. I was giving it benefit of the doubt in 
speculation. There may not *be* a real story concerning the 
tonal superiority of boxwood caps. It could easily be just 
another of the myriad mass hallucinations this industry is 
obviously subject to. Perhaps the denser material doesn't 
crush around the pin as easily and quickly as maple, and slows 
the development of false beats from flagpoling pins. The 
number of false beating strings I've found with boxwood caps 
doesn't support this, but folks see what folks see, regardless 
of what's in front of them. I personally find the epoxy 
laminated veneer caps to be as good as anything I've ever 
hoped for in capping material, and far better than anything 
else I've tried.

So I can't account for any real benefit to boxwood, unless 
it's in comparison to a previously prevalent (alliteration is 
my life) soft and inadequate material that didn't provide a 
solid anchor for the bridge pin. Grading on a selective curve, 
boxwood may well be superior, while in absolute terms, not.

One Wookie's opinion,
Ron N