Can anyone point me to people who make custom banjo bridges? I have a Purcell banjo bridge which I like just fine, but I'm interested in trying some others. Thanks!
Richie Dotson makes some great sounding bridges.
banjomart.com
Mike Smith, Chris Cockrum are members here as well . Also, Huber,Scorpion,Aztec and a bunch of really, really good bridge makers here on the hangout Best of luck
Steve Davis.
It used to be a bit difficult to have great bridge choices.
Not so any longer.
Check the Marketplace under Banjo Parts. There are several bridge makers on here who regularly post their work for sale.
Essentially the same thing was asked within the past couple of months, leading to nearly all the bridge makers being listed. Try the search tool in the permanent navigation column at the left. Select "Forum" for the place to search.
In the meantime, here are people or businesses to look up. Google can give you their addresses:
Scorpion bridges by Silvio Ferretti in Italy.
Kat Eyz bridges and Snuffy Smith bridges by Mike Smith.
Steve Davis bridges
Sullivan bridges, by Sullivan Banjo.
Dotson bridges, by Richie Dotson, Acoustic Box LLC.
Desert Rose bridges by Scott Zimmerman. Not sure he's still making them.
Besides searching out the makers, you can buy some of these bridges -- and others I didn't mention -- from Banjo Teacher dot com, Banjo Ben's General Store, Greg Boyd's House of Fine Instruments, and Elederly Instruments.
Edited by - Old Hickory on 10/05/2025 12:41:03
When many of us started to play the banjo ohhhh soooo many decades ago, as far as I knew then there was one maker of banjo bridges…Grover. I also think you had two choices of heights, 1/2” and 5/8”. That was it. If you were lucky enough to find a store that had banjo bridges, you got what you got…
…fast forward, there are at least 50 makers of really excellent banjo bridges out there. Whatever you want, you can get it.
Many already mentioned. This question as Ken mentioned above was asked about two weeks ago. Go to the main page and do an archive search on banjo bridges. You will get well over a dozen pages of answers going back to at least 2009.
Try as many as you can get ahold of. Every bridge sounds different on every banjo. Infinite variations…
Pay less attention to the "brand name" on the bridge, and more to the gram weight on it, and what sounds best on YOUR banjo.
You have to try a bunch and pick the best. Most people don't want to hear that. They just want someone to tell them to buy XYZ Bridge and all your problems will be solved. It doesn't work that way. Never has.
Edited by - Eric A on 10/05/2025 16:38:53
I always say,"When you find your banjo sounding great,weigh your bridge."
