Tim Purcell R&D Director | Fusion for Sage 200, Sage Intacct, Sage 1000, Sage X3 Warrington. The increased chiming is a great sound. Powerful and clear. I used a Moon bridge for many years, and the intonation was better than a straight bridge, but not adequate. Until the day comes when I can welcome a high end mahogany to my collection, this bridge experiment seemed like a pretty good solution. I've purchased two bridges from Don. You wont be disappointed. There are so many excellent bridges being made today that it's worth experimenting. Tim Purcell is a popular Placed on a properly set-up banjo, the bridge will deliver strong bass and very clear highs--the clearest so far that I've found on a production bridge for the price. I recently purchased a custom compensated bridge from Bart and am very happy with it. Be sure to avail yourself of his experience. I tried many of the other maple (and a persimmon) bridges I have collected over the years but they were also too trebly for me and also lacked the full sound I was getting with the Snuffy Smith and McPeake bridges. When they came in I immediately noticed the beautiful and consistant quality of his workmanship. Rachel currently performs with the Atlanta based all-female a capella group Octave.. Defeated, the Babadook then collapses in front of her, revealed to be nothing but a hat and trenchcoat. This bridge really is amazing. I ordered on a Friday, and the bridge was shipped on the following Monday. Its a fairly new addition to my arsenal, and Ive spent a bit of time trying to pin down a sound using various bridges (and toying with the other customary variables). Cons - The only real con to this bridge is that I cannot use my Mike's Banjo Mute with it. I was always impressed by her accurate pitch and remarkably pure tone. While not for everyone, it certainly does the trick in getting what most pickers would want. Where Purchased: Elderly Instruments (Online). Very disappointed. He brands them, and labels them height, weight, spacing on the bottom of the bridge feet for convenience. Needing a bridge for myGold Tone Cello banjo CEB-5 I contacted Bart via his online request form. Just more solid all around and much more pleasing to (my) ear.Mike told me to try out the bridge for a week or so before committing to it, but I can honestly say I am sold already after a day of playing. I like how it looks as well with it's little feet sticking out. I felt like it brought out some nice bass tones on the Deering and took out some of the tinny sound and smoothed out the Goldtone. For a performance even Graham Nash congratulated. Besides that, he is my neighbor.he only lives about 45 miles from me! Bart's mystery wood bridge "WOKE" this banjo up when 8-10 other professional bridges could not. What a great bridge! Tim made it light for me at 2.15 grams and it is a cracker, or a snorter as we say here in England. With camo frog I have only done this once but I can say that I was able to get the 2 outside strings bang on and the inside strings were so close to being bang on that they were just about perfect. It was definitely on the tubby side with somewhat dull high and mid range. Tim Purcell bridges have that special something that seems to noticeablyimprove my playing ability. Mini Bio (1) Tim Purcell is known for The Babadook (2014) and Death in Bloom (2015). I highly recommended it! The difference was spectacular!! After discussing different tones, options and the type of banjo I'm playing, Tim made me a locust bridge with an ebony cap in 7/8" height. I tried a lot of different bridges on my RB-4 copy but was never satisfied with the tone. Tim was very gracious & made my wife & I feel right at home. It provides good not separation with just the right amount (for my taste) of sustain. Awhile back I asked Eric at Sullivan for a sample of a FF Roasted bridge when itwas completed. I tried a S/S bridge and its got a little growl now, which is very cool. These bridges are from 2 - 5 grains (depending on height) and are constructed from old AND CAREFULLY AGED maple. He responds quickly and clearly cares about his work. Great volume, balance and tone anywhere on the neck. Just a VERY positive "shout-out" for Bart and his superb bridges. Why did I wait so long to try one of these? The tone, however, is the most important aspect the bridge offers the prospective buyer, and here it most certainly does not disappoint. The bridge does not appear so far to be causing any sort of overtone issues.-Not sure if all the camo frogs are compensated but the one I have is. I really should have noticed this before buying it, but am glad I did because it does sound great. More at IMDbPro Contact info Agent info Resume Born December 7, 1949 Add to list Known for Number 96 7.0 TV Series Writer 1972-1974 3 eps This is my second bridge from Bart. You hate to mess with something that works but I might go again. I assume these are the Wadsworth design the Steve purchased a while back. Arthur makes a fantastic bridge. I was briefly obsessed with Jerry Rabun'sexperiments but that represents about all my bridge trys. This one was custom made by Virgil.The original was a Grover. I will not likely go back to the Moon.I would definitely recommend this bridge for a nice bright sound, but only if you do not use a banjo mute on a regular basis. BBB File Opened: 8/30/2010. . I got a 5/8ths in 2.2 gram and 2.1 gram. Where Purchased: Direct from seller website. View court, arrest, criminal/conviction Some folks might find the tone a little too bright (particularly the 1st string). It's surprising how much a musical selection can affect mourning. If your looking for a slightlydarker, sweeter tone, give this bridge a try. I'm a big fan of these Prowler bridges made by Mike Smith. I just have to say what an incredible difference an insignificant little piece of wood makes!! My then current bridge was to thick. All five banjo showed significant boost in sound quality. But for me it was actually listening to Helpless Hoping that tore at the old heart string in a huge way - good on them for that rendition. It has made a world of difference with my Enoch Tradesman! Join Facebook to connect with Tim Purcell and others you may know. I have a DeeringArtisanand had never changed anything on the banjo. MY friend still plays that banjo and it sounds amazing with Bart's Bridge. The original bridge is maple/ebony but is definitely open to some improvement. And I can say that it does indeed open up the sound, and it does set up a tension on the strings that made them much more playable. He shipped my custom order within a few days and I love the look and sound of this bridge. Beautiful sound, great price, and good people. It now sounds brighter and more "pre war" if you like. The increase in note decay is just enough to provide that clarity of note separationI've been looking for. First he swapped out the popular, well known bridge on my banjo with the Organ bridge. I'm a wood worker, so I'm probably a bit more critical than the normal person. View the profiles of people named Tim Purcell. Tim's professionalism, support and dedication to find a way to succeed speaks volumes of his character and made doing business with him so much easier. I was intrigued by this bridge and David's tasteful design, that while original, definitely had a traditional look that would not be out of place on a vintage instrument. I bought one of Tim's bridges about 2 weeks ago. It appears to have been a secondary result of sanding or filing the bridge for fit and finish. Tim makes great bridges. I got the Zebra Wood/Kataloxbridge 5/8th and standard spacing from Dave Cunningham, bought via the classifieds. When I put on the capo, it doesn't go out of tune. Bart was familiar with the specific dimensions of the instrument andshipped the new bridge one day after I made payment. I found that as others have mentioned, you should allowed the roasted maple bridgeto settle in for at least a day or so before making adjustments or judgements. We use cookies to personalize & enhance your experience. I ended up with 2 bridges from David (.656"), and the zebrawood/kataloxbridge had a beautiful effect on the banjo. I am blown away by the improvement in sound. "Gary.you have got to be the greatest bridge maker that's ever walked the earth! Everything else was good, even with the new height. I ordered a single foot, straight bridge from Tyler Burke, owner/operator of Renan Banjos and have been very pleased with the improvements in the tone of my Bart ReiterSpecial. Took the harsh ring out of the 5th string, brought out the tone in the other strings. I will definitely be calling Jerry again for my bridge needs. Outstanding product, good value and price, excellent customer service and response time. I have tried most all of them that look like they are anywhere worth their weight at all and Kelly's outperforms them all. The tone is brilliant, I can play way up the neck now, and the. I highly recommend this bridge. The sound had a slightly "rounder" tone and plenty of punch up the neck. The bridge is well designed/built and looks great. I am including a Youtube video which will allow you to listen for the difference between the two. Together with the string spacing, which Bart customized for me, this makes the bridge feel highly comfortable in playing. Like most banjoists, I spend about as much time getting my banjo to sound better than playing it. I am looking for trades to share my library of Bridges, but no further experimentation on the Veerman, Dunno WHY these bridges work as they do, but I've tried them on ALL my open-back banjos (3 Chuck Lee tubaphones, a Vega Whyte Laydie, a Lo Gordon custom). When I am playing bluegrass, for the prototypical dry, loud, powerful, dynamic "Earl" sound his #6 "Mystery wood/ebony topped" bridge is incredible. They produce great tone, and are very well made. This bridge is the difference between night and day. It's (by far !) Actor. One more time! The Babadook threatens to make Amelia kill her son and dog. The reason for choosing the Fielding in the first place was it's design. My mahogany KK-3 had really come into it's own after I had replaced the stock ring with an JLS#4. But there is no way to tell since I am not in possession of a device that measures decibels. It is easy to see the level of care that goes into making a bridge this fine. I just finished testing 6 different bridges on my new bellflower, Red Dot, Sosebee, Grover, Snufty Smith, Lamson, and Fielding. Compared to a hard maple ebony cap, the mystery wood bridge soundsmellow and full, without any muddy overtones on the low end. Files were needed to remove burrs on the ebony saddle. Also, has a more metallic ring to it which I particularly like; woody bridges lack bite and sizzle, this just rings and rings. I'm experimenting on the other banjos just now. Where Purchased: direct from kat eyz site. I bought one of Danny's Beech bridges on Ebay. Last weekend I received Kellys bridge. Great tone, volume, and sustain. Jack. The note separation and clarity is phenomenal, not to mention the cool PW two-legged heart shape. To sum it up, I am pleased to have met David and recommend his products without reservation. Because of this, I have found increased volume and better (to my ears) clarity in both the bass and the highs. Timothy Purcell. I used one of my Scorpion bridges on my Sullivan Festival Deluxe and it was a little too keen-sounding and lacked some essential overtones. 1st string slot is a little wide but not bad. I do some finger picking (no metal pics), but mostly CH. http://www.banjohangout.org/myhangout/videos.asp?m=d&catID=0&id=22541. He even tweaked the string spacing for me, as the stock bridge had the strings a little too close together for me. I put it on my 1962 Vega Seeger and WOW!! After doing some warm up with the old bridge, I replaced it with the new David Cunningham bridge. I have a Snuffy Smith on my Goldstar and was satisfied with it but have read good things about Sosebee's bridges so I thought I would give one a try. Very nice "no-sag" Red Maple 5/8"bridge with ebony top. I ordered a 5/8" bridge with Crowe spacing and received it without incident a few weeks later. They beefed up the tone & volume and look TOTALLY PreWar !!! Mike suggested to make me a Kat Eyz peg head bridge out of the Snuffy wood source to the same specs of my favorite Snuffy bridge. Very well built. I think they call it a "no-direct-route" approach (every string's path through wood to the head is interrupted by open air). I can't afford to upgrade to a better banjo, and truthfully can't see spending that much money even if I could. So I sent him payment for that bridge and returned the one that I was not going to use. Bart is a real pleasure to deal with and a genuine craftsman. The lower action helped there a bit. This took three emails to complete do to my questions witch Tim was happy to answer. It's like turning from basic to semi-pro. We exchanged a couple of more emails where TIm was very generous with his time in responding to all of my questions. Bridges and the tone they can bring from our Banjo's is a very subjective matter. The banjo was pretty good as it was but this bridge just enhances everything good about the banjo. I was a bit worried that I asked for a bridge that was going to be too heavy but now I think I can say that 2.3 grams is about right for my open back.- one of the more obvious differences with the camo bridge is volume. The banjo is brighter than a typical Mastertone banjo. To offer your sympathy during this difficult time, you can now have memorial trees planted in a National Forest in memory of your loved one. Bart invited me to come visit him and try out a bunch of bridges for my 2013 Deering Calico. Clarity and perfect intonation were outstanding features of both bridges. Not sure but I think the legacy was about 3/4 and seemed like it was up around the ceiling. Where Purchased: Direct from Cumberland Acoustics. Awesome, great sounding and cool looking. A very balanced and "open" sounding bridge. Strangely, the Fender factory is a close second, the difference being more in pronunciation way up the neck than in volume. 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