Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on September 21, 2010 at 1:08am

Never does for me. I think that is because there is no break angle so the strings really don't contact the edges much, at least the way I've mounted them.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on September 21, 2010 at 1:47am

In the good old days all the major guitar companys use this type of tail pieces and some still do. I can't recall ,of the several hundreds of guitars that I have sold and seen that was much of an issue.

Cheers
Bob:)

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Permalink Reply by Mark on September 21, 2010 at 4:05am

If you're worried about possible string breakage on sharp edges then it's not difficult to take the edge off a little. I've made some guitars with tailpieces made of plain brass sheet with holes drilled in, which initially gave me similar concerns. I have a couple of things I do to reduce the risk of string wear/breakage and it's possible you could do something similar.

What I do is de-burr the holes with a drill and then give them some brief attention with medium to fine abrasive paper.
By de-burring I mean I take an oversize drill bit (eg. for a 2mm hole I'd use maybe an 8mm drill) and, just holding it my hand, twist it lightly against the hole to shave off any burrs that have been thrown up by the initial drilling.
With the abrasive paper I take small pieces and roll them into cones, which I can push into the hole and twist so that they work on the edge.

Maybe I'm being over cautious. I've never had a string break at it's tail end, but I don't know if that's because of my precautions or becauae it's unlikely in any case. It's possible the relative hardness of the metals of the strings and tailpiece might make a big difference. If you're using strings made from a hard steel and you've got a tailpiece made from a softer metal, such as brass, then maybe it's more likely the strings will wear away the tailpiece than the tailpiece will wear through the strings.

What sort of hinges do you have?

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Permalink Reply by c# merle on September 21, 2010 at 6:21am

been playing this one for bout 3 years, no problem with the hinge breaking the strings

like diane says, not much break angle on the strings

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on September 21, 2010 at 6:36am

I've had good success with hinge tail pieces. Never a broken string in that area. Remember to keep the string outlet on the tail piece LOWER than the saddle part of the bridge.

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Permalink Reply by Frank Posey on September 21, 2010 at 6:50am

Yup , I put mine string hole right down close to the top of the box and if I get any buzz, I just put a strip of leather or mouse pad just under the string next to the edge of box too.

Uncle John said:

I've had good success with hinge tail pieces. Never a broken string in that area. Remember to keep the string outlet on the tail piece LOWER than the saddle part of the bridge.

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Dubman on September 21, 2010 at 12:21pm

Mark aka. Junk Box Instruments said:

If you're worried about possible string breakage on sharp edges then it's not difficult to take the edge off a little. I've made some guitars with tailpieces made of plain brass sheet with holes drilled in, which initially gave me similar concerns. I have a couple of things I do to reduce the risk of string wear/breakage and it's possible you could do something similar.

What I do is de-burr the holes with a drill and then give them some brief attention with medium to fine abrasive paper.
By de-burring I mean I take an oversize drill bit (eg. for a 2mm hole I'd use maybe an 8mm drill) and, just holding it my hand, twist it lightly against the hole to shave off any burrs that have been thrown up by the initial drilling. I have no shortage of rotary burrs and machinists' countersinks, 60 degree point, any of which
should do the job nicely.


With the abrasive paper I take small pieces and roll them into cones, which I can push into the hole and twist so that they work on the edge.

Maybe I'm being over cautious. I've never had a string break at it's tail end, but I don't know if that's because of my precautions or becauae it's unlikely in any case. It's possible the relative hardness of the metals of the strings and tailpiece might make a big difference. If you're using strings made from a hard steel and you've got a tailpiece made from a softer metal, such as brass, then maybe it's more likely the strings will wear away the tailpiece than the tailpiece will wear through the strings.

What sort of hinges do you have?

Ives brass decorative hinges from HD, fleur-de-lis shape, part #C9072B3. Also have some similar
larger decorative hinges pulled off discarded cabinets, unknown mfr and part #.

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Dubman on September 21, 2010 at 12:24pm

Thanks, all, you've been phenomenally helpful.

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