Martin Luxe Liquid Metal Bridge Pin Set - Bone with Pearl Inlays

I was excited to get 12 of these pins in for my D12-35 and they do make a difference that my ears can discern. As I do all my pins when new, I chamfer the ends at about a 45-degree angle, so the string balls don't dig into the tone bar of the bridge underneath. With the old plastic pins, this was pretty easy but took a bunch of grinding in a vise for the Luxe pins. For the grand total for $, I think Martin should include the chamfering as part of the price.

What I discovered was a VERY thin coat of bone-colored paint over the base metal. I guess I had falsely fantasized that for this much money, a real bone pin would have been drilled out and filled with the "liquimetal" in the center. But these are very thinly painted and scratch easily. I'm going to have to spray paint these with almond epoxy paint to get the shanks looking good, again. I'm quite sure that the heads of the pins are going to scratch similarly over time just from forearm wear and not look like the premium pins that these are touted as.

And yes, you'd best chamfer these pins if you want to protect your tonebar. I first put them in without the filing, but they wanted to slide up and out when a string was pulled up to tune it while the pin was being situated. When they did seat, there was a clunk, presumably when the string hit the tonebar and hard pin end simultaneously. Unless you bevel the ends with a grinder, chancing heat damage from the friction, vising these pins is going to cause the scratches I mentioned, so maybe one of you enterprising inventors out there could drill an angled hole in a board and turn it upside down to bevel the ends of the pins while protecting the heads somehow so you can prevent the inevitable scratch and grip marks of a vise.

I leave you with a strong suggestion: Bevel the ends of these pins, no matter how you accomplish it. There are scores of YouTube videos showing you how and they consensus is that it is a necessary modification, even for plastic pins. I've done it with every single set of ebony wood, cow bone, camel bone, fossilized ivory, and brass bones I've had over these 20-something years and wouldn't even consider fitting bridge pins without the chamfer.