Overall Comments

I recently purchased a custom compensated bridge from Bart and am very happy with it. I have a Deering Deluxe and, as with almost all banjos I have played, it needs a compensated bridge to be accurate over the whole fretboard. I used a Moon bridge for many years, and the intonation was better than a straight bridge, but not adequate. Determining the correct bridge compensation was straightforward, but Bart spent a lot of time working with me to find the right bridge material to achieve the tone I wanted. Once the material was selected, Bart made the compensated bridge and it works wonderfully. For the first time, I can play a chord at the nut and above the 12th fret, and both are in tune.

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

You don't really purchase one of these bridges, you acquire it in phases.
I was having some intonation problems which I though could have been due to inept fingering or holding the banjar in a weird state, but at the end of the day the second was a bit flat and the third a bit sharp.
After your curiosity is piqued at his website you learn enough to make a competent decision for yourself and you decide to order.
Then you go through all the drill in testing the amount of compensation that you might need. The order is sent.
You have about 3 e-mails each way to discuss what you are looking for in terms of sound and timbre. Then there were two phone calls to clarify. I wanted a brighter sound, which Bart clarified as "exuberant"rather than bright so as not to confuse the effect of the tome ring. He went to work and left a note a few days later that it was on the way. Mine was a lighter bridge over stock (4mm v 5mm or thereabouts). There is an immediate difference in the voice of the Banjo. a hear a crisper note with noticeably more sustain and less drop-off as the note decays. I guess another way to say it is that it is much less plunckier that the stock Deering bridge and slightly more brilliant than the Moon bridges I have on my stuff.
It was a pretty impressive process with Mr. Veerman , at one point suggesting that I might not want to purchase his bridge if I could get my own to work by slanting it to flat the 4 and 5 string. That kind of helped but not quite enough and by that time I had invested so much time in figuring out the problem that I ought to do something. I am glad I did not follow his advice. The intonation problem is a thing of the past
I hear a lot about the Snuffies and the like and I am sure that they are really good. But this one was like a design-build process of which I was a part.
Update 30 days after purchase: Bart contacted me about a week after the bridge arrived to see that it met my expectations, I bought another different one just to have in the arsenal. You get the feeling that he doesn't sell these, but rather, he gives them up for adoption to good homes!

update3-3-08
I just put a Veerman ENIGMA bridge. I added a bit of height and went to the 44 (JD CROWE) spacing to help the comfort. This thing Rocks!!! it is as exuberant as hell and yet there is a clear improvement in the bass notes even or the Mystery bridge. By bass, I don't mean mellow or plucky. . . I mean BASS. When we were negotiating the acquisition, I thought I heard Bart to say that the top would mellow a bit with the Enigma. NO WAY! There is no trade off. I am looking for trades to share my library of Bridges, but no further experimentation on the Veerman

Overall Rating

10