Fossilized Walrus Jawbone (FWJ) Bridge Pins Review

Fossilized Walrus Jawbone (FWJ) Bridge Pins
- reviewed by Todd Stuart Phillips

There are a variety of ways for guitarists to fine tune or otherwise alter the sound of their guitar, to improve upon it or simply when seeking something new and different. One of the best ways to accomplish this without performing major surgery is to install bridge pins made out of a material different than those the guitar came with. Among the unique materials I have tried lately are the fossilized walrus jawbone pins provided me by Maury's Music.

I was slow getting around to experimenting with the various saddles and pins available on the market. I could not imagine they would have all that much effect, particularly for the prices charged. I could not have been more wrong. Whether a player wants something brighter, woodier, thicker, clearer, mellower, glassier, or the opposite of any of them, there is some combination of saddle and pin material waiting to be discovered that will give them what they seek.

Some of the most popular bridge pins are those made out of bone, typically from cow shins and those made from partially fossilized ivory, typically taken from ancient walrus tusks. My new pins however are made from fossilized walrus bone. This makes them unique from other pins and also dissimilar in their effect on a guitar's voice. My test instruments were a 2004 Martin OMC-28B and a 1995 Martin OM-28VR. The first guitar is made from Brazilian rosewood and Adirondack spruce with a fossilized ivory saddle and bone pins. The second guitar is made from Indian rosewood and Sitka spruce and has a bone saddle and plastic pins. This allowed me to put these new pins into two different guitars but also compare them with two other pin materials. Each guitar was strung with high quality 80/20 strings of different makes.

I liked how the pins look; an adobe-like tan with dark speckles. But how would they sound? Well, the results were mixed. But before I get into the tonal variations the pins offered it is necessary to point out no two saddles or pin sets made from an organic material will give the exact same result. They will influence the vibrations passing through them in a manner similar to that other example, but they will remain unique. I find this a good thing as it makes the combinations of such materials practically infinite. When you install such things in your guitar it will only be that much more individual in its sound. Still, there are things one can reasonably expect to gain from using certain materials.

I had recently installed a fossilized ivory saddle in my new Adirondack-topped guitar because it was a bit brittle sounding. The saddle instantly helped warm up the mids and bass while exchanging some of the crystal-chrome ring on the unwound strings for fatter, woodier trebles. The addition of the fossilized walrus bone pins, however, seemed to be overkill when it came to those unwound treble strings. It was like there was a bit too much ring removed. The wound strings, on the other hand, seemed to take to the new pins very nicely. They did not lose any of the definition that the cow bone pins provided; rather there was a different kind of definition (allowing individual notes, grace notes, harmonic overtones and undertones to stand out as individual even as they sustain with many other notes). I heard a bit more coloring in the transparent fundamentals and some subtle change in the character of the harmonics and undertone. There was something warm and cheerful about the overall effect they had on the guitar, even if the unwound strings suffered a bit. Ultimately I chose not to leave them in the guitar for very long. I felt the combination of the fossilized ivory saddle and the traditional cow bone pins gave me a better marriage between warmth and clarity, chime and wood.

I then put these new pins in the Sitka-topped guitar with the cow bone saddle, replacing its generic, plastic pins. This proved more successful. Bone saddles provide pure notes with a glassy transparency to the fundamental notes and an unfettered definition in the undertone. Bone also can sacrifice some warmth and wood in the voice while achieving that clear and present ring. Immediately I noticed how much more volume the strings had when I replaced the plastic pins. It was obvious because I was changing them one at a time and playing for a bit before moving on to the next string. It was also apparent that sustain increased as well. When hitting the octave harmonic at the 12th fret the fundamental note was clearer and louder and did not begin to decay for a good two seconds longer and still remained louder after it began to fade. When playing scales, chords or sections of compositions the classic Martin undertone just seemed to stay at its peak longer.

There was a noticeable change in the fundamental notes as well. It was sort of a shimmer or brassy quality, but one that was not grating. Instead there was a lot of strength in it and made the strings suddenly regain some of that "new string sound". These particular strings were heading into being "old" but the new pins breathed new life to them. There was added dimensions in the voice, particularly when hitting some unusual chord voicing that produced dissident harmonic sustain.

It is really difficult to qualify what effect the pins have, other than to say it definitely changed the voice of guitar. I think it most fair to put it this way: Whether it made the guitar sound "better" would be in the ear of the beholder. But when replacing basic, plastic pins they definitely made the guitar louder, increased note sustain and definition and brought in new characteristics that had never been in the voice before. I felt the combination of fossilized walrus ivory saddle and walrus bone pins muted too many high frequencies that the Adirondack top worked so hard to produce. But the pins worked very well with a bone saddle on my Sitka topped guitar and I expect to keep them there for the foreseeable future.

Your results may vary, since not all FWI saddles sound the same and these pins might work fine with yours. They certainly seem to work with bone saddles very well. The bottom line is that Maury's fossilized walrus jawbone bridge pins remain a unique and viable option for those looking to add a new influence into their guitar's tonal pallet without having to go through the process of shaping and installing a new nut or saddle or even more costly alterations.

Out of a possible 8 Notes on the T Spoon Scale of Guitaracity I give these Fossilized Walrus Jaw Bone Bridge Pins a solid 5 Notes