Acoustic Guitar Construction

A question - - - it would be a minor bit of work to make up and install a SS/brass/aluminum plate on the backside of the bridge plate while constructing a new instrument. Never seen it done, but is there any merit to doing it? Stew-Mac sells one for twenty-four bucks, which seems a bit hight for a piece of flat stock with six holes in it....

I have been reading a fair bit of Somogyi and just watched his DVD, so thats clearly shaping some of my current thoughts - but I'd question the advantage of adding that much weight at the bridge.

In theory it could add sustain at the expense of responsiveness - the result of increased mass.

If you're trying to solve the issue of string pull-through, that might be better handled by simple slotting of the bridge and proper seating of the strings.

From the Martin forum, where opinions are sharply divided:

"I used one in a J-40 as a preventative measure. This was before I'd heard of bridge-slotting. Little sonic change but, if anything, I heard an improvement in tone - better note separation and clearer bass notes.

I still see the guitar every few weeks, the PlateMate is still in it, and it's a tone-monster - one of the best-sounding guitars I've ever come across. "
"Good. I was using a very similar system (brass washers) before before the Plate Mate came out, to "harden" the contact between the string balls and the bridge plate. I thought it improved the tone, and I was sufficiently impressed that I've since used them in other guitars. I've never thought the tone deteriorated as a result, though I'm not sure there was always an improvement. "

Just food for thought...I don't use them, myself...

Benedetto's DVD has a session he did at a festival in which he demos two different tailpieces for archtops. One ebony, the other metal, probably brass based. He prompted the audience to agree with him that the ebony tailpiece yielded the best sound. Clearly, the two sounds were different. But I preferred the metal tail piece and ever since have contemplated adding a brass plate to the wood reinforcement under the bridge. Even wonder if, with brass to anchor the strings, whether the extra wood is necessary at all.

Hobby shops carry a wide variety of brass plates at much better prices than Stew Mac. And you are not stuck with just one string spacing if you roll your own.

I like the sound the plate mate adds and keep about a half dozen of them on hand for repairs and requests.

They are $20 direct from the manufacturer -- seems like an effective quick repair. However, adding weight to improve sound quality? Some guys made/make a big deal out of ripping out the old Rosewood bridge plate and replacing it with lighter Maple. (I really prefer Rosewood for the BP) I guess hearing is believing.

I'd originally asked my question as a mechanical topic - - - would metal reinforcement on the bridge plate contain bridge plate wear over time from metal strings seating on wood? I think I could imagine a scenario wherein a metal string ball end firmly pushes against a metal plate encourages string vibration to transfer to the instrument top instead of being damped into wood. I guess.

Ken, I have a bunch of rosewood headstock veneer plates, perhaps they're usable as bridge plates. What thickness do you suggest for a rosewood bridge plate?

Thanks, folks.