Facts

The Weber Wood Nymph is designed to reduce the unwanted harmonics that are produced by the strings between the bridge and tailpiece of acoustic instruments.

This is important for professional musicians, who record in sensitive studio settings and for any player who wants the best tone from their instrument.

We have also found that it is easier to use an electronic tuner when a Nymph is installed because parasitic harmonics, which often cause the indicator to oscillate, are reduced.

The Wood Nymph snaps onto the strings and is easily installed and removed.

The Wood Nymphs are designed to fit the string spacing of Weber mandolin, mandola, octave, mandocello and arch-top guitar saddles. The string spacing, measured from the middle of the bass strings to the middle of the treble strings, is 1 3/8 inch for mandolins, 1 1/2 inches for mandolas, 1 3/4 inches for octaves, 1 13/16 inches for mandocellos and 2 3/16 inches for arch-top guitars.

The Nymph may fit other saddles if they are close to this spacing. If the string spacing is wider, the Nymph can be installed closer to the tailpiece. If the string spacing is shorter, the Nymph may be angled slightly to fit.

Install the Wood Nymph on the strings halfway between the bridge and the tailpiece. Spread the treble set of strings and slide the grommet down between them. Release the strings when they are in the grommet groove. Repeat on the bass set of strings. The Nymph may be angled slightly to match your string spacing.

Slide the Nymph into a position behind the bridge that is comfortable for your playing style. Do not touch the bridge or the saddle with the Nymph.

Thanks very much for getting the Wood Nymphs to me so promptly. As promised, here are my opinions now that I have fitted them to two mandolins and tried them:

On my Weber Absaroka the result is pleasing. Though this mandolin never suffered a lot from "dirty" sounding notes due to "parasitic harmonics (I like this term!). In fact, I chose it {the Absaroka} for its very coherent sound - it does seem to now be clear of any. The visual appearance {of the nymph} is also good and I like the feel of the wood when I rest my hand there sometimes. There is a noticeable difference with the use of my electronic tuner ( I usually attach the microphone to the bridge when I tune. )

I fitted a Wood Nymph also to my Godin A8. Here the need was more dire - The A8 has saddle piezo pickups - one for each pair of strings. I experienced a lot of "dirty" notes, I think because the piezos are highly sensitive to both sides of the bridge, and there is no "natural" filtering of frequencies by the resonance of an acoustic chamber at this point in the bridge. I had the idea for something like the Wood Nymph already because of this. Anyhow, the difficulty was that the Wood Nymph's dimensions do not exactly suit those of the bridge on the A8, so I had to angle the Wood Nymph back about 45 degrees to get it to fit the strings. I have not yet tried it out in a loud, amplified, live performance yet ( which is what I have the A8 for ), but there is a perceptible improvement listening to the A8 acoustically and at lower volume. It would be nicer, though to get the Wood Nymph parallel to the bridge on the A8. Maybe a version of the Wood Nymph could be developed with adjustable, sliding grommets, to fit differently dimensioned bridges.
(we made a custom nymph for Peter that fit his Grodin string spacing)

I hope that this feedback is helpful.
-Peter, in Switzerland-  (who bought the first two nymphs)

"Our bluegrass gospel group recorded 6 new songs last night at the studio and I was really impressed the way the Nymph helped my mandolin. It really cleaned up the notes and sounded great."

- K. Keen -

"It looks very sharp, and does a great job of muting the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece.  Maybe the best thing though, is that it provides a nice reference point for the heel of my right hand to glide on while picking."
   
- Bill Rogers -