No high frequencies here!

[J M Fahey]

You can make hide glue by scraping the collagen off the inside of a raw hide and letting it dry. I never tried it or had the desire to but the guy I learned violin making from told me it was pretty easy to do.

Even easier, just boil a piece of skin.

Or the tastier version: boil pig feet a couple hours , 4 or 5 even better, simmering at low heat, barely bubbling.
Pass broth through a sieve, let cool, remove grease and you are done.
Enjoy eating the leftover pickled pig feet.

Or use bits of raw (un tanned) hide:
Hide Glue in Liquid Form - Popular Woodworking Magazine

Edit: fish skin is even better.

[Richard]

Regarding "pressed tin" covers: Lots of people use "tin" to mean "generic cheap metal". Tin cans are still tin cans, even though they're steel. If you search for 30s to mid-50s vintage electric guitars, you will find more "steel" guitars than "Spanish" guitars. And the pickup covers on many of those steel guitars might be classified as "pressed tin".

-rb

Tin is used generically for sheet metal tin cans and tin roofs were tin plated steel, I assume that's where it comes from. I think the old metal toothpaste and ointment tubes were made of pure tin, that's the only thing I'm aware of that is actually tin.

[Richard]

No, camel.

It doesn't dry out.

[rjb]

But moreover, if you don't know what you're talking about, just don't say anything. We shouldn't be giving salesmen carte blanche to just make stuff up, even if you do happen to be blinded by the beauty of the guitars they're selling.

I'm not blinded by the beauty of the guitars. I think they're kind of cute. Like platypuses.

But I do believe that a reasonable person should be able to tell the difference between obvious marketing hype and scientific fact. How amusing would your favorite TV ad be if salesmen had to stick to the facts? Should B&G be chastised for making this statement?

Our designs are the outcome of our secret sauce we found to be the golden rule in creating great instruments...

What did they say that was so outrageous?

We cast our own brass hardware from a unique allow that conducts the fullest frequency range,

Claims like that have been around since at least the 1970s. Ever hear of Badass Bridges?

we even use thick brass pickup covers to isolate the coils instead of pressed tin covers.

Do they use thick brass pickup covers? Yes.
Do they use pressed tin covers? No.
Are thick brass covers a cost-cutting measure? I don't see how.

Also note that thick brass covers are "scientifically" consistent with "fat and throaty" sound.
You can find sound clips of the guitars at the B&G site, and on Youtube.

So, to quote some horrible, despicable ad copy, "Where's the beef?"

-rb

[John Kolbeck]

It's OK to lie, so long as the lie is a) entertaining, or b) has been repeated since at least the 70's. Got it.

[J M Fahey]

I´m still not too happy about the ¨casting¨ side and not sure they are not taking some liberties with the description.

We often go through "indirect" processes to achieve something, in this case rolling metal (any kind) into various thicknesses *flat* sheet and then punching/stamping/drawing it into different "3 D" shapes.

Although this looks contradictory, the full path to end product is easy and predictable.

Now casting in principle looks like the perfect way to make any complex shape and with minimum waste, big problem is that brass/bronze, although an excellent and popular (for good reason) metal for casting, does not lead to easy casting of thin wall parts ... such as pickup covers.

Even more in a relatively "homemade" environment.

At least, it would require preheated dies (still below melting temperature of course) and injecting under pressure to make certain even thin and far away areas get properly filled.

I had a friend who made cast brass bridges (think Badass) , he had them rough cast at some Factory before home machining and finishing, but somtimes he tested dies at home (he was a die maker by profession) and he simply poured molten metal into them, no extra pressure besides Gravity.

I can´t imagine Guitar Makers by profession (I saw mostly woodworking related machines and power tools) having some advanced pressure caster on the shop.

[rjb]

It doesn't dry out.

So you've tried it, I see.

[jack briggs]

No, camel.

Ibex...

[eschertron]

I noticed them a year or so ago- says they make thier own glue- what do they go kill a horse and render it?

No, camel.

Ibex...

For the old school delta blues mojo, wouldn't canal-boat mule be preferable?

[Jason Rodgers]

Pickup material descriptions/justifications aside, I dig what these guys are doing. Figured maple tops (that you can drool over and choose), mahogany back and neck, rosewood fingerboard, shaped on a big ol' pin router, with great burst finishes. Tons of mojo, channeling classic mid-century vibes. They know their target audience, basically build one model for them, and build the hell out of it. Considering the simple construction, they could probably sell these for less and pull in more folks, but their price is communicating boutique-ness. Good business model.

And I use fish glue... if anyone's interested.

[rjb]

I´m still not too happy about the ¨casting¨ side and not sure they are not taking some liberties with the description.

Oops. I think we screwed up.
B&G doesn't say that they cast their pickup covers- or even that they make them.
They just say that the covers are thick brass.
It looks like Mike misquoted B&G (Post 1), then I quoted Mike (Post 10).

We cast our own brass hardware from a unique allow that conducts the fullest frequency range, we even use thick brass pickup covers to isolate the coils instead of pressed tin covers.

They do say that they cast their own brass hardware.
I would note that on "affordable" stringed instruments of the 1920s-50s, hardware like the tailpiece were often made of cheap stamped metal.

[rjb]

For the old school delta blues mojo, wouldn't canal-boat mule be preferable?

Well, I said camel because they're in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Are there any canals closer than the Suez?

[Mike Sulzer]

Oops. I think we screwed up.
B&G doesn't say that they cast their pickup covers- or even that they make them.
They just say that the covers are thick brass.
It looks like Mike misquoted B&G (Post 1), then I quoted Mike (Post 10).


They do say that they cast their own brass hardware.
I would note that on "affordable" stringed instruments of the 1920s-50s, hardware like the tailpiece were often made of cheap stamped metal.

I think you are meant to conclude that their covers are neither tin nor "pressed", whatever that means. They say they are thick (consistent with casting), and casting is the only process mentioned. I think that they are implying that the pickup covers are part of the "hardware" that is cast. How else do you make a "thick" pickup cover? Machine then from a solid block of brass? (I did that with aluminum once, but I do not think that they are doing that.)


Perhaps something has been lost in translation.

[eschertron]

I think you are meant to conclude that their covers are neither tin nor "pressed", whatever that means. They say they are thick (consistent with casting), and casting is the only process mentioned. I think that they are implying that the pickup covers are part of the "hardware" that is cast. How else do you make a "thick" pickup cover? Machine then from a solid block of brass? (I did that with aluminum once, but I do not think that they are doing that.)


Perhaps something has been lost in translation.

I took a look at a video on their website. It shows making the covers and end tree (is that the right description for the thing that holds the strings on the bridge end of the guitar?) using a hand-cast method, wax prototypes and plaster molds (ancient and time-consuming, but guaranteed to by be replete with mojo!). Actually kind of cool, and probably cost-effective at the production volumes they have.

[rjb]

I think that they are implying that the pickup covers are part of the "hardware" that is cast. How else do you make a "thick" pickup cover?

I dunno. I'm not a metalsmith. How thick is "thick"?
I do know there is more than one way to make a metal box.
Not that I believe each pickup cover is individually hand-crafted.

Machine then from a solid block of brass? (I did that with aluminum once, but I do not think that they are doing that.)

Going for that low, throaty sound?

Perhaps something has been lost in translation.

Perhaps. It is difficult to discern what was said and what was (intentionally or unintentionally) implied.