Bridge makers use a gram scale. Most bridges start at about 2.15 grams and on up from there. Bridges at 2.4 grams and up are going to increase the low end. Bridges 2.3 grams and below will be crisper. Ideal bridge ? Usually 2.25 grams or so. I have one that is 2.5 grams, making the tone bassier. My favorite bridge right now is a KatEyz Snuffy Smith at 2.28 grams.

A taller bridge adds mass to the bridge, and is bassier, except that then you have to fix the action problem. Sometimes it's just as easy to stick with 5/8" and tell the bridge maker to aim the mass up around 2.3 - 2.5 grams, or whatever numbers you're playing around with. Good luck!

Right now I have Sampson bridge from Elderly Music. It is a heavy, compensated, and 5/8" bridge.. I have it on my 12" Stone banjo with just the rim for a tone ring, with Minstrel Nylgut strings lowered down from the key of G to the key of E. It makes for a mellow clear tone that i use to back up my singing such as it is, folk songs. Others who say non-steel strung banjos should have a lightweight, non-ebony cap bridge are looking for the snappy, loud, bright sound of banjo classical music of the 1890s (?). My set up works great for my purposes. banjered

A heavier bridge will also give you more sustain. Raising the tailpiece will give a similar more-bass enhancement as heavier bridge without the increased sustain.

For heavier bridge, short of DIY, you can cut out a bit of wood to put under the feet. So-called craft sticks, popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, or coffee stirrers are possible sources of the raw material.

Some of the bridges from Sullivan banjo seem to be heavier than most. I figure they sold them that way so you could just send them to whatever weight you want

Probably the quickest way to get a heavier bridge on your banjo is find a local jewerly store and nicely ask them if they could weigh your bridge. When you know your bridge weight call some bridge makers tell them what you got and that you would like a slightly heavier bridge weight and you should be in business

They can also be weighed on a reloading powder scale, if you know anyone who loads their own ammo. They weigh in grains but can easily be converted to grams.

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Originally posted by kat eyz

Probably the quickest way to get a heavier bridge on your banjo is find a local jewerly store and nicely ask them if they could weigh your bridge. When you know your bridge weight call some bridge makers tell them what you got and that you would like a slightly heavier bridge weight and you should be in business

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Great advice Mike

How are you! I really miss our IBMA get togethers, those were treasured times for me.

Merci beaucoup a tous pour tous vos conseils !! J'apprécie l'aide que vous m'avez apporté !

Just thinking (?) out loud, as I've never weighed a bridge, but would drilling some holes be a feasible way to reduce weight?  ... or epoxy-ing in  something [BB pellet, semi-precious stone, etc.] to increase the weight?  ... or would it all be an ill-advised crap shoot / exercise in futility?

I definitely drill holes to reduce weight. The concept of adding epoxy to me is a nonstarter because if epoxy had the right tonal qualities (which it doesn’t) I would just make the bridge out epoxy in the first place.

In addition to the banjo, I'm also into archery. Below is an Amazon link to the type of digital scale I use to weigh the components that are used in building arrows. These scales are also very useful for determining the weight of banjo bridges. These scales work well, and they're quite inexpensive.

Archery Arrow Scale

 

A bridge scale needs to go to 2 decimal places as in 2.25 grams.I'm making a heavier (by request) 2.40 gram bridge for a customer wanting a "deeper" tone.
My favorite bridge scale is my ProScale LC-50.It measures in hundredths of a gram and cost less than $20.

Shopping for cars or dates by weight makes zero sense and regardless of what some may say, it's not any different for banjo bridges.

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Originally posted by kat eyz

Probably the quickest way to get a heavier bridge on your banjo is find a local jewerly store and nicely ask them if they could weigh your bridge. When you know your bridge weight call some bridge makers tell them what you got and that you would like a slightly heavier bridge weight and you should be in business

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Or, if you know any serious drug dealers....

I'm pretty sure my son-in-law has a scale that will weigh to the required accuracy.  I think I'm gonna weigh all my bridges [i.e. the ones that aren't on a banjo].   I'm also pretty sure I won't be putting that info to any good use, but, but, but, I've heard that "knowledge is power."  

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Fwiw, I've tried making a few "far out, man, far out" bridges ........ and predictably (?) the results have been less than impressive.  However, this bad boy .... legs from some mystery Asian pallet wood and crosspiece made from Formica (?) and attached with epoxy .... went from "pretty bad" to, "sounds okay.... very similar to all my other modestly priced run-of-the-mill bridges" when I  reduced its weight by shortening the legs about 1/16" and drilling holes up into the feet.

When everything is sounding great weigh the bridge the next time you change strings.

It's a simple part of the useful bits of information.

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Originally posted by desert rose

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Originally posted by kat eyz

Probably the quickest way to get a heavier bridge on your banjo is find a local jewerly store and nicely ask them if they could weigh your bridge. When you know your bridge weight call some bridge makers tell them what you got and that you would like a slightly heavier bridge weight and you should be in business

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Great advice Mike

How are you! I really miss our IBMA get togethers, those were treasured times for me.

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Scott    those days were super fun !!!    To listen to you and Silvio talk bridges was such an inspriation to me !   I soaked up yalls knowledge and pointers to me like a dry sponge  ! lol   So glad we crossed paths back then   

Bill Keith used to wrap a banjo string around the feet of a Grover bridge.

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Originally posted by Owen

I'm pretty sure my son-in-law has a scale that will weigh to the required accuracy.  I think I'm gonna weigh all my bridges [i.e. the ones that aren't on a banjo].   I'm also pretty sure I won't be putting that info to any good use, but, but, but, I've heard that "knowledge is power."  

=====================================================================================================

Fwiw, I've tried making a few "far out, man, far out" bridges ........ and predictably (?) the results have been less than impressive.  However, this bad boy .... legs from some mystery Asian pallet wood and crosspiece made from Formica (?) and attached with epoxy .... went from "pretty bad" to, "sounds okay.... very similar to all my other modestly priced run-of-the-mill bridges" when I  reduced its weight by shortening the legs about 1/16" and drilling holes up into the feet.

 

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The jury is in!   I guess I wasn't clear enough in my request to our SIL,  so he weighed 'em [chem lab at school] to the nearest 1/10 gram.  The four v-e-r-y modestly priced ones are 2.2, 2.6, 2.7 and 3.1g.   My seven hand-crafted [cough, cough] look-somewhat-like-a-bridge range from 2.8 to 4.7g.   The one-of-a-kind Formica one pictured ^^ is in the middle at 3.4g.  [Man, talk about getting more info than you bargained for........  .   ]

The problem with weighing to the nearest tenth is that there is a considerable tonal difference between a 2.21 gram bridge and a 2.29 grammer,but the 1 decimal place scale will call them both 2.2 grams.

I've gotten a few of these and they are within +/- 0.015 of my Milligram balance. You'll also find that bridges can vary in weight due to humidity and air pressure/attitude changes if you're measuring at 0.01g

Also, it's important that your scale is on a level surface.

a.co/d/0gX9s8BN

I make bridges in 3 weight ranges: bright, medium, and dark.

I bought my metric scale at Harbor Freight. I make bamboo race car bodies for my HO 1/64 set and the plastic ones you get are 13 grams, so my bamboo ones are anywhere between 17 and 24 grams.

The banjo bridge material and grain alignment makes a difference in my considered opinion.

I use a Bart Veerman on my #001 all bamboo Jackrabit. She hops.

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Originally posted by Cockrum_Studios

I've gotten a few of these and they are within +/- 0.015 of my Milligram balance. You'll also find that bridges can vary in weight due to humidity and air pressure/attitude changes if you're measuring at 0.01g

Also, it's important that your scale is on a level surface.

a.co/d/0gX9s8BN

I make bridges in 3 weight ranges: bright, medium, and dark.

 

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The bridges I've made weigh the same no matter the weather or barometric readings.

Mine vary by about 2 milligrams in weight (not mass) with air pressure which is consistent with difference in air density that they replace (~0.1% between high and low barometric pressure). Also, I see about a 25mG increase (in weight and mass since the water is now inside of the bridge) which is assume is due to moisture coming into the roasted wood after they are made in the first few days. Although I'm not in an exceptionally dry climate. Id assume that there would be some amount of loss there also.

It takes an analytic balance to measure this. I have one from my precision reloading for rifle ammo.

Chris