> Moreover, I guess I should ask: If boxwood caps are acoustically superior, > why would anyone settle for maple, maple laminated (or reconstituted) or > anything else for that matter? My experience with replacing boxwood caps > with epoxy hardened or laminated caps has not demonstrated any noticeable > drop-off in tone quality. But, subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) things > have certainly gotten by me before so--inquiring minds want to know, what's > the real story? > > David Love I don't know. I was giving it benefit of the doubt in speculation. There may not *be* a real story concerning the tonal superiority of boxwood caps. It could easily be just another of the myriad mass hallucinations this industry is obviously subject to. Perhaps the denser material doesn't crush around the pin as easily and quickly as maple, and slows the development of false beats from flagpoling pins. The number of false beating strings I've found with boxwood caps doesn't support this, but folks see what folks see, regardless of what's in front of them. I personally find the epoxy laminated veneer caps to be as good as anything I've ever hoped for in capping material, and far better than anything else I've tried. So I can't account for any real benefit to boxwood, unless it's in comparison to a previously prevalent (alliteration is my life) soft and inadequate material that didn't provide a solid anchor for the bridge pin. Grading on a selective curve, boxwood may well be superior, while in absolute terms, not. One Wookie's opinion, Ron N
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