Saxophone mouthpieces (the black ones) are made out of hard rubber. They are very strong and brittle & would no doubt do the job. The rubber ones generally give a darker tone than the steel mouthpieces but there is an overlap. I don’t know if it’s the same type of rubber as what you’re talking about though.

There must be SOMETHING you can get at a thrift shop, made out of what you consider hard enough rubber, to saw into a bridge.
Try it, and let us know.

It's not like you're making a huge and irreversible change.

Mike, evidently, once source of the correct type of rubber is found in a "Jeweler's Block", a hard rubber block used to hammer jewelry.

Here is an origin story of the innovator, who was influenced by a banjo mute.  It's interesting to see the technology showing up in recent music. 
reverb.com/news/the-rubber-bri...die-music

I admit I was thrown by the title of the post but, after reading it, I can see where this might work. Hard rubber, known as gutta percha, was a common thing years ago. It was used for many things like gun grips, butt plates, pipe stems, etc.
If it was used for mouth pieces it would probably work for banjo bridges but it would probably have a muted sound. Since that seems to be what the original post is about, it may be worth a try. Having a bridge that would tone down the banjo so it wouldn't overpower a singer might be feasible.

not gonna make my banjo wear rubber... 

I wonder if this hard rubber concept would work in regards to a tone ring? It can't be any heavier than some of the metal ones.
Robert

quote:

---

Originally posted by tdennis

Mike, evidently, once source of the correct type of rubber is found in a "Jeweler's Block", a hard rubber block used to hammer jewelry.

Here is an origin story of the innovator, who was influenced by a banjo mute.  It's interesting to see the technology showing up in recent music. 
reverb.com/news/the-rubber-bri...die-music

---

A jeweler's block and a hockey puck are both hard vulcanized rubber.  I don't know if they're identical material, but maybe close enough!  And more hangout members might have a puck somewhere than a jeweler's block. 

Hard rubber is fairly similar to heavy dense import hardwoods, like African blackwood. It was quite common around 1900 to make clarinets from the stuff. Ridenour clarinets are still made of it.

I doubt it would mute sound much; maybe favor a certain frequency range.

Start with tap tone. A muffler? sure, why not? I have to admit this made me smile on the inside.

Hi all, Wow, that does sound, no pun intended, interesting. I am always experimenting with different wood types and Banjo Bridge shapes, but never thought about hard rubber to make a bridge out of. Might give it a try.

It seems like it would be a good way to introduce "bounce" into your playing.

Some folks are allergic to rubber (although there may be some additives involved). I, personally, can't tolerate he smell of tire shops or tennis shoes. Patients are usually asked by Doctors and nurses about latex.

There are loads of rubber types and it will be important to find one that works without causing health issues for the bridge maker or the player. Even though I Will consider alternate materials, rubber is one I will always avoid.

So… bridges made of Mother of Bowling Ball… I can see that.

What about Bakelite?

The reason I ask is that I have an ancient Conn trumpet with a translucent red cup. Bakelite mouthpieces are often used in sub-freezing temperatures to keep the player's lip from sticking to metal.

Anyway, Bakelite came in some interesting colors and is certainly hard enough.

quote:

---

Originally posted by mikehalloran

So… bridges made of Mother of Bowling Ball… I can see that.

 

What about Bakelite?

The reason I ask is that I have an ancient Conn trumpet with a translucent red cup. Bakelite mouthpieces are often used in sub-freezing temperatures to keep the player's lip from sticking to metal.

Anyway, Bakelite came in some interesting colors and is certainly hard enough.

---

Charlie Parker (The Bird) used to play a Bakelite saxophone back in the 60's. & that very likely had a hard rubber mouthpiece. 

The type of rubber being discussed is dense & firm, but not brittle, like Bakelite or plastics.

Check out Geoff Ellis flutes. He imports some very interesting patterns and colors from Germany for his flutes. Something similar would look great as a bridge.

I believe we are not talking about actual "rubber" here, which is a natural material, but a synthetic "elastomer", often, a urethane. These are made in a broad scale of hardnesses, classified by the Shore D hardness scale, ranging from true rubber up to things like hard hats and bowling balls.

I can't fathom why anyone would make a banjo bridge from this stuff while simple and superior materials like wood are readily available.  What is the point?

A sycamore bridge weighing 4-5 grams would probably erase just as many unpleasant banjo tones as any other material.

quote:

---

Originally posted by steve davis

A sycamore bridge weighing 4-5 grams would probably erase just as many unpleasant banjo tones as any other material.

---

Good point!

Wood in its varieties and endlessly possible bridge designs is capable of affecting the whole spectrum of frequencies a banjo head can generate.

I must admit, when I first saw this thread "rubber bridge", I thought it was going to be a humorous thread, like police officers who have gone batty being assigned to the "rubber gun squad".

About 20 posts and not a single example or sound file -- and almost all miss the OP point.

I think that the original idea was to take the sound in a direction inaccessible to any species, shape, or weight of wood. That is certainly not impossible. Density, stiffness (on various length scales) and damping form a large space of possibilities, and there are rubbery materials that are just not like any wood. Duh.

Some years ago, I did try to use rubber (bits and sections of red rubber hose) to make a bridge that muted dramatically without altering sustain (which is what happens with simply adding weight). To my surprise, I could dramatically reduce the sustain, but it was still much louder than what I wanted (an essentially silent instrument that no one but I could hear but had the feel and tiny sound of a normal one) -- rather surprising but a consequence of the efficiency of a regular head as a transducer of sound. In the end, I went with rubber-backed carpet for a head, glued onto 1" plywood -- and a normal wood bridge.

I think that squooshy (not hard) rubber, might be a sound that someone crazy would like -- as with the electric guitars described in the second tdennis post. (I'm working on resonator guitar physics. So, someone else will have to rise to the rubber bridge challenge.)

There are several sound samples, discussions, how to, & more info on YouTube.

youtube.com/results?search_que...ar+bridge

If the above-linked Molly Frances can do it, so can you.

(tdennis - I meant sound samples specifically on a banjo. The second post near the top already had something to listen to.)

Hunter Robertson has a "plastic banjo". Not sure it it's old and made of Bakelite, or made of something else. He certainly makes it sound great :-). When I was growing up, hair combs of the best quality were made from "hard rubber."; Cheapies were made from plastic.

Hunter: "Soldier's Joy, played on my trusty plastic Harmony. Tuning is gCGCD. "
youtube.com/watch?v=VcUsZy_qeic

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite

Part of why there is little humor here may be due to some rather nasty colloquialisms of the term "rubber." no one, I'm sure, wishes to be reprimanded for unseemly joking. I also believe that most commenters did understand the intent here and have been commenting on the "why" as well as the "how." The statement about wood types which may have a similar effect isn't just a misunderstanding, but is a valid argument, as there ARE numerous kinds of wood that could duplicate the soft sound of rubber (maybe balsa?)

I wonder just how a rubber bridge might be made. Would it be in the form of a typical wooden bridge with three feet, would it be wood with a rubber top instead of ebony, would it be a solid chunk of rubber with its entire length contacting the banjo head? This, as well as the actual rubber type used (or neoprene or other rubber-like material) needs to be considered..

Maybe rubber works on guitars, but guitars are not banjos.

As far as "rubber policemen" are concerned, there is an Ambrose Bierce fable about a straw policeman.

I say, let someone make some rubber bridges, just like those who have tried brass bridge (which, to many people, sound awful). Just keep that "rubber bridge" idea away from freeway overpasses.

The current fad among guitar players comes from a desire to get a new sound, maybe something more primitive. One demo likens the rubber sound to palm muting but easier to do and includes a snippet of Mississippi John Hurt.

Some banjo players only want to sound like so-and-so. Others are eager to explore the possibilities. Many professionals that I've heard live in solo engagements have brought along several very different banjos to get some range of sounds.

The first one I slapped together (in photo) weighs 5.7 gm. That weight pulls the primary break angle formant central frequency way far lower the norm. I'll try with it trimmed down in the future. On the other hand, it might be that rubber + weight gives a sustain that seems more normal than what might happen with a much lighter rubber-topped bridge.

The sound comparison (attached) is to the same banjo with one of Bart Veerman's lightest bridges. Yes, it's laptop built-in mic recording in my kitchen, and a real comparison deserves better. However, the comparison was done with the same recording level and same positioning of mic and in the room.