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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.
Installation
Instrutions
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.
Peter, in Switzerland, who bought the first two nymphs
sent us this review:
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.
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