Taylor Ebony (Abalone) Bridge Pins - GS Mini & 114 ?

[Paul60]

Anyone know if the Taylor Ebony, (Abalone) bridge pins will fit both GS Mini & a 114 ?

I'd like to dress them up a little.

[timfitz63]

I don't think they will fit a GS Mini; I believe the plastic ones they use on the GS Mini have a slightly larger shaft diameter, so any replacement pin needs to be the same size.  And if the bridge pins on a 114 are the same as those on the GS Mini, the answer would be the same.  About the only way I can think to make the Ab/Ebony bridge pins from the other models work would be to wrap the shaft with something (e.g., tape) to make it thicker.  But that's an imperfect solution for a number of obvious reasons...

That all being said, some other folks on the forum have found other suppliers who make decorative bridge pins that they've used to dress up the more budget-looking models.  I'm sure one of them will chime in shortly.

[Guitarsan]

Yes, the standard Taylor ebony (plain or abalone dotted) pins work perfectly fine in the GS Mini and I would suspect in a 114. And, this is the very first "upgrade" I would recommend for either. You will hear more sustain and a bit more dynamics afterward. No change in tone, but to me that's worth the money for sure. Good luck!

[TaylorGirl]

 I've used the Taylor abalone bridge pins on 3 GS mini's. A couple pins had to be filed just a little, no problem otherwise.

[Paul60]

Thanks all,

I'll give them a try.

[cassidy9914]

I plan on replacing the plastic pins on my 210 DLX with the Ebony ones out of my 412-r and putting Graph Tech pins in my 412. And yes I've used ebony pins in my previous mini's. Also... if I'm not mistaken Taylors website updated the description of their ebony pins fitting 300 series and higher guitars. Now it just reads choose from classic ebony or add an extra touch of style with ebony and abalone dots. No mention of certain series. They must have figured out that everyone has been replacing plastic with ebony even tho they still sell plastic.

[Guitarsan]

Just remembered I removed the other bit of plastic - the truss rod cover - with a custom striped ebony TRC. Matches the fretboard!

[Paul60]

Just remembered I removed the other bit of plastic - the truss rod cover - with a custom striped ebony TRC. Matches the fretboard!

That looks much better.

Where did you get it from ?

I've seen a few on ebay and other stores but they all seem to have weird logos or stuff on them.

Got my bridge pins today. All the way from the UK to Australia. Less than a week!

[Paul60]

Wow, maybe I bought the wrong bridge pins ?

They are Taylor, factory original product.

But they are literally half the diameter of the original GS Mini bridge pins and overall smaller.

I have managed to use them by jamming them in and not using the slot in the pin.

The bottom E up to D worked kinda ok, but from G to the high e they really are loose.

How are you guys making these work ?

[TaylorGirl]

Weird. Mine just worked.

[Paul60]

They are all seated and appear to be holding now.

Although the B popped out on me a couple of times when tuning up.

Hope that doesn't happen halfway through a song when I'm playing a gig ! 

[Paul60]

They look sweet though. Abalone .....

[woodnut]

I just installed a set of the Ebony bridge pins with abalone on one of my GS Mini's.
The first one tried to pop out a couple of times, so I gently pressed down on the pins with a block of wood while tightening up the strings.
Worked great that way.
Definitely can hear a little difference and the bling is a side benefit.
Someone gave me a scrap of ebony that I'll make a couple truss rod covers to complete the upgrade.
Thanks for posting this.

[Paul60]

I just installed a set of the Ebony bridge pins with abalone on one of my GS Mini's.
The first one tried to pop out a couple of times, so I gently pressed down on the pins with a block of wood while tightening up the strings.
Worked great that way.
Definitely can hear a little difference and the bling is a side benefit.
Someone gave me a scrap of ebony that I'll make a couple truss rod covers to complete the upgrade.
Thanks for posting this.

Funny thing is, I also bought a set for my 114. The 114 comes stock with the same larger, plastic pins as the GS Mini.

Although way smaller, the ebony pins seemed to hold better in the 114 than the mini and the 114 uses lighter gauge strings too ( .12's).

[woodnut]

I made these today for my GS mini's and one for a friend's.
Left to right, spalted Maple?, Koa, Rosewood & Sapele.
Should look a lot better than the plastic ones that came on the mini's.