 Z Bridge Pricing |
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After two years of research and development, and countless samples, the Desert Rose Z Bridge is now available to the banjo playing world. Research was conducted that confirmed important
points about banjo performance related to
bridge weight and material density as well
as specific dimensions that are related to
sound.
A bridge has a very large effect on the power,
tone and playability of the banjo. It is
also the easiest component for the banjo
player to change to search for his or her
individual sound. Desert Rose bridges are
designed and built to deliver performance
suited for all aspects of bluegrass banjo,
while having a unique sound at the same time.
Depending on set up, they can deliver
a wide variety of sound from rich to piercing.
The Desert Rose bridge is being produced
in different styles, each having a unique
voice. The Z Bridge is made of seasoned AA
instrument grade hard maple with an ebony
top, while the Z Bridge Vintage is made of
recovered hard maple from trees 300 to 500
years old when cut, and have been sitting
in the cold waters of the Great Lakes for
100 to 200 years, with an ebony top. This centuries old aging in low oxygen content
water has caused changes to the wood at the
cellular level that have a direct effect
on theacoustic response properties of the
wood. These bridges produce a very rich bluegrass
response in a properly set up banjo.
In addition, each model is available in an
Elite version, which is designed using our
own PATENT PENDING propriatary idea utilizing
aerospace technology that raises the performance
of your banjo to new levels. The Elite technology
has shown positive effects on power, clarity,
note seperation and balance on a properly
set up banjo.
Specifically addressing the point of playability,
each bridge is hand slotted using guaged
slotting files to give the proper size round
bottom slot. In addition each slot is ramped
back towards the tailpiece for optimum playability
and sound transfer making it possible
to use shallow slots for best tone.
The Desert Rose Z bridges are available direct
from the maker, and will soon be available in select music stores. Dealer pricing is available, please inquire.
Setup
It is recomended that you consider it necessary
to change the setup of your banjo anytime
you do something as important as changing
the bridge. Because bridges and the woods
they are made of vary so much in grain, weight
and density, it is improbable that your banjo
will sound its best without some fine tuning
of the setup.
In our expierence, the Elite series and Vintage
series bridges perform best with heads tuned
in the G to A# range. A loose head (below
G), will not give you enhanced bass response
without possible compromises in performance
and playability. The Elite and Vintage series
bridges deliver the best balance of tones,
including bass frequencies, without lowering
the head tension. Not lowering the head tension
has a benifit to playability in that the
right hand response remains quick and gives
you a full range of picking dynamics that
you loose with a loose mushy head.
A further point we have discovered is that
the tailpiece should not be raised excessively.
In direct opposition to current fads in banjo
setup, the Desert Rose Vintage and Elite
series bridges deliver the best performance
with some tension on the tailpiece. This
is especially true of the Elite series. We
recomend starting with your tailpiece aproximately
5/32 inch off the head to start and check
the sound by playing your banjo. Then raise
the tailpiece angle by no more than 1/16
inch, retune your banjo and play. Continue
doing this systematically until you find
the optimum sound for your banjo and technique
of playing.
Please remember that the centuries old recovered
wood as well as the aerospace technology
in the Elite series bridges are new to the
banjo and stereotyped concepts of banjo setup
dont necessarily apply to these bridges.
Failure to take this advice into consideration
may lead to less than optimum banjo performance.
We invite you to try the Desert Rose Z bridge.
Sincerely
Scott Zimmerman
Email
fax 81-263-33-6383
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