A funny tailpiece...

vince

So I popped my high E string, and realized my only remaining set of strings is missing... a high E. It will be a day or so until I can get a set from Michael, so I figured I'd buy some of the ball-end D'Addarios gypsy jazz strings they have at my local guitar store. However, this won't work given I noticed this strange abnormality in my tailpiece — the hole on the B string peg is just shy of 90º in the wrong direction! Is there anyway to fix this, or should I buy a new tailpiece?

Craig Bumgarner

You might be able to turn the post to the proper orientation. It may have been assembled wrong or more likely, it has turned since it was made. The posts are just peened over on the back side, so it is just a friction fit and I've seen some loose ones. Try to twist it with a pair of pliers. Be careful of scratching with the jaws. My guess is you can spin it around where you want it.

Archtop Eddy

Same thoughts here as Craig, but you might try using a small nail in the hole and twisting it so it lines up in the correct direction. Might not tend to scratch it as much as pliers... AE

Craig Bumgarner

Yeah, good idea.

vince

Nope, I tried the nail idea and the nail was getting ready to bend with the peg still completely stuck. I guess I have to buy a new tailpiece — I don't want to force it and break it, and then be guitar-less for a week :-)

thanks for the ideas all!

Jeff Moore

The lugs on these tail pieces are like rivets.
If they were put in hot, or just peaned together, turning it will be very difficult as you noticed.
I had ones on a guitar that were just drilled to small. E strings wouldn't fit.

My suggestion is drill it. It'll still be strong enough if your able to drill it 90 degrees from the original hole, leaving some meat on either side of your new hole. In other words don't drill a new hole that is an enlargement on the existing hole or you'll weaken the lug to much.

The other thing is to clamp well before you drill so when an if the drill catches it doesn't bend things up.

If you don't care what it looks like when you done you can use both a nail and maybe a vise grip to defeat the seating on that lug and turn it, but you have to sacrifice the looks on the little thing. Also, grabbing brass with enough force to spin it will likely squish it some, which puts you back to drilling it back to a shape that'll take the string - a circle.

If you drill it carefully, nobody'll no, and I won't tell.
Also, don't start with a small drill and work your way up to size! That's a guarantee for catching the drill bits in the brass and wrenching it enough to bend the whole tail piece. Just us a drill one hole with a bit that's a little larger than a low E string, and clamp either on top of the lug or very close to it on the tail piece. If you can clamp it well and close to where your drilling, without bending anything, drilling it will be simple and clean.

Archtop Eddy

Another thought about a temporary solution... Can you remove the ball from the E-string and unraveling the loop a bit, enough to fit over the lug? Worst case scenario, you'll wreck a new e-string; better than damaging a nice DR tailpiece. By now, I'm guessing you probably got your strings from Michael. You might consider ordering a 10-set bulk of extra e-strings... AE

frater

A DR taipiece! Then one wonders why chinese are taking over...

Bob Holo

They're peened in, but you might... well, if you have a leather-faced shop vise and a mini-MAPP (jewelers) torch or good soldering iron or something where you can put a whole lot of heat on a very small spot... heat the peened end and then turn it, but if you're not good with tools and confident about what you're doing, you'll damage the lacquer on the tailpiece or worst case, injure yourself.

Or just call Michael (or ****) and get another - they both import them for about 50 bucks.

http://shoppingcart.djangobooks.com/tai ... asian.html

vince

Bob,

I've thought about heating it — I don't have a leather-faced vice, but I imagine there's a way I could clamp it at home. I have a soldering iron for electronics which might work (and it's fairly low wattage so I could heat it gradually).

By now, I'm guessing you probably got your strings from Michael. You might consider ordering a 10-set bulk of extra e-strings... AE

Ha, I just did order some E strings, so I may try this. It's not a huge problem as I usually use loop-end anyways. I'm still going through that new guitar setup phase (so far I'm getting the best sound with Galli light GSBs and the bridge raised so the action is just over 3mm), and I wanted to try the Galli Silk and Steels, which to my knowledge only come in ball end. I've read pretty much every past post on strings and it seems they may be too quite anyways. I recall Michael saying they work great on antique Selmers and Favinos which could make even the softest string loud. Still may be worth a try though.

I might just order a new tailpiece in the future. I've already bought the guitar, strings, and (more) learning materials from Michael this month; when will I learn to stop ordering piecemeal to save on shipping? ;-)

Vince