Ebony stop tailpiece

sporks

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It's totally common to have wooden tailpiece on archtops... Why is it that nobody makes wooden stop tailpieces?

I'm carving one out of ebony, and going to put a little inlay on it.  It's more for fun than practical reasons.
Anyone ever seen one? Or have thoughts on the idea? Possible pitfalls, etc.

The only downside I can see is that it won't snap and hold onto the posts like most/all metal ones do (they have thin little clips). But this is only a concern if you take the strings completely off. Otherwise the strings hold it on with tension.
I was contemplating putting string ferules in the back to give the strings something solid to rest on, but I don't think that's necessary since ebony is so dense.
 
Mine doesn't snap in...  :icon_scratch:

I think it's a cool idea though.
 
Stewart Macdonald sells a Benedetto Ebony stop tailpiece for archtops.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Archtop_guitar_tailpieces/Benedetto_Archtop_Tailpiece.html

I've always wondered if you could convert it for a VIP.  I think it'd be pretty sweet with a couple F foles.
 
taez555 said:
Stewart Macdonald sells a Benedetto Ebony stop tailpiece for archtops.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Archtop_guitar_tailpieces/Benedetto_Archtop_Tailpiece.html

I've always wondered if you could convert it for a VIP.  I think it'd be pretty sweet with a couple F foles.

I have thought a lot about this too!! On either a VIP or L5s. Seems like a lot of potential for mojo.
 
I thought he meant carving a Tune-O stop bar out of ebony.  :icon_scratch:
 
dbw said:
I thought he meant carving a Tune-O stop bar out of ebony.   :icon_scratch:
I did  :icon_smile:  But these are all cool ideas.

I'll post an update with pics once i get started. 

I got a nice 12" block, so I figure I've got two shots at it.  But with as dense as this stuff is, I think it would be pretty difficult to make an un-recoverable mistake. If nothing else, it'll be a fun experiment.
 
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom said:
How would you ground the strings?

I guess through the bridge?  How do you do it on an archtop anyway?  Maybe you just don't....
 
On a TOM Stoptail combo, is the bridge (TOM) or stoptail do the grounding?  If it had a floating Ebony bridge and an Ebony Stoptail, aside from a visible wire to the metal of the bridge, there'd be no way to ground it.
 
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom said:
How would you ground the strings?

I'm just going to ground the bridge posts. It's a fishman TOM piezo, and they say it needs to be grounded anyway (in addition, and separately from the shield of the extra signal wire to the circuit under the bridge).

Edit: btw, i had an archtop with a rosewood tailpiece (but not a stop one, like i'm making now), and its strings were grounded through the TOM.
 
I've finished the tailpiece.  It was WAAAY more work than I'd imagined.  Ebony is such a pain to work with.

Archtop tailpieces are essentially a slab of wood, slightly shaped.  Whereas stop tailpieces need to be carved and shaped a LOT.  I'm guessing this is why nobody makes them - such an ordeal.

Anyhow, it's not perfect... far from it.  But I can live with it, and it was loads of fun.

IMG_1498.JPG

IMG_1499.JPG


More pics here:
http://sg.sporkstorms.org/index.php?pid=26
 
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