Banjo Bridges by BartArchie High-Performance Banjo Bridge |
I
designed the Archie specifically for archtop banjos but word's gotten out
that flat top banjos really like them, a lot as well as do the Reno vintage
sound fans. The sound/tone these Archies can liberate from banjos is just
incredible, you'll have a huge dynamic range to exploit up and down the
neck as well as the voicing of the X and Y positions and whatever else in
between. Archie passes the 'low force test' with flying colours. Low
force? Yes, as in barely picking a note and still have it sound clear and
distinct despite the low volume.
Archies can comfortably handle lower tail piece and/or head tensions should you want to tone down the brightness without sacrificing mid range or bass. The word brightness here of course, means brilliant clarity - nothing whatsoever to do with tinny or shrill. The side effect of lower tension is that the strings often feel less stiff near the bridge making playing more effortless. Being as thin as Archies is where of part of the magic comes from - string vibrations have a more direct transmission path to the head and this thinness also makes them very forgiving when it comes to intonation issues. Most of the magic, however, comes from the selection of woods - it simply couldn't be an Archie with any other wood species. To celebrate their uniqueness I identify them with the circle mark in the top near the middle. Turns out the little circle is unique just by itself - hold it near a light and you'll see it glow red, red hot and ready for action. Don't settle for imitations - if it doesn't have the red hot dot it isn't an Archie. Archies are available from 9/16" to 11/16" tall but keep in mind: maximum Archieness is achieved at 5/8" height. How much do they weigh? Hmmm, Archie is kinda sensitive about that, kinda like a lady when being quized about her age.
Oh, just in case, one thing Archie cannot do is to give you the clawhammer "plunk" sound, just not gonna happen. Sorry to my fellow clawhammer players but mellow is totally out of the question here. Of course that does not mean that you cannot use an Archie to play clawhammer style on your favourite banjo, it does wonders for that extra bit of volume you may need. One thing to keep in mind: because of how thin Archies are you must reduce string pressure before mounting and positioning this bridge. It doesn't matter how experienced you are with bridge change-outs: *** failure to reduce string tension first will result in string slot chipping! *** Here's what Mike Stanger of Idaho, U.S.A. thinks about them:
Thanks for the kind words Mike. Here's a great Youtube clip showing an Archietaken through its paces and here's another one |
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