He passed, I believe.

Correct. I believe it was in May or early June. There's a post announcing his passing.

Too bad!

So, only here now: https://cliffordessex.com/product-category/accessories

Or does anyone know more?

That would be great.

Thanks for asking, and thanks for letting us all know.
I reached out to him also, but I missed the post on him passing.

Yes I like and use both -the spillway and bigfoot and did catch that thread--but his threads in the classified seem to be still existing as artifacts--
those bigfoots will be hard to duplicate--some days they fit my touch the best--
also I got to know Don a bit--a ''good people" kinda person

@Tuedelband I found a 1/2” compensated bridge on Amazon sold by Golden Gate but it has an ebony cap so is just a temporary one until I can find one more appropriate. I have been looking at the Clifford Essex website and will likely order a couple different ones as soon as I make up my mind. There must be others out there who can add 1/2” bridges without an ebony or rosewood cap that are appropriate for old banjos.Elderly has some copies of the original Cole bridges but they are not available in 1/2”.

quote:

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Originally posted by Dry Ridge

@Tuedelband I found a 1/2” compensated bridge on Amazon sold by Golden Gate but it has an ebony cap so is just a temporary one until I can find one more appropriate. I have been looking at the Clifford Essex website and will likely order a couple different ones as soon as I make up my mind. There must be others out there who can add 1/2” bridges without an ebony or rosewood cap that are appropriate for old banjos. Elderly has some copies of the original Cole bridges but for some reason they are not available in 1/2”!

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quote:

@Dry Ridge

"There must be others out there who can add 1/2” bridges without an ebony or rosewood cap that are appropriate for old banjos. " End of quote.

Well, apparently not.

I searched high and low but only found this one and the one by Joel Hooks.

However, on one of my banjos—which is strung with nylon strings—I have a standard 1/2 bridge with a plate; the previous owner sanded the bridge down very thin, and I love it.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a woodshop, but I’ll ask a carpenter if this might be a little side gig for him.

I see a bleak future for lovers of these mostly century-old banjos—no real thin nylon strings with a wound fourth string, no simple two-legged bridges, no thin calfskin,

and... and... and...

I make all maple bridges in what I call the "utility-knife-blade" style for $5-7 depending on the details, but I don't know if they are the kind of thing you are looking for or not.