Why put leather under the tailpiece?

BluesBop Harry

It does curl over the binding and can extend from 5-6mm to an inch, doesn't matter much.
You can see it in pictures if you search a bit:
Like here, green felt instead of leather

Here's an old tread about this:
viewtopic.php?t=1622

Tele295

Thank you Harry! That picture is quite insightful.

I'm sure it will be quite obvious to me once I actually get my hands on the tailpiece. Soon.....

Tele295

Can we remote post?

BluesBop Harry

Hey Tele295 that's a much better picture!

Ian Rossiter wrote:

:idea: So would a leather strip help tame down the "wetness" of my 255??

You can also try Galli silk and steel strings VO27 they lose that new string sound fast and sound darker and dryer to my ears. My guitars get a reverby sound when I put on a new set of Argies.
My father has a D500 with really, really seriously old strings and it sounds a lot less wet than it used to.

Tele295

BluesBop Harry wrote:

Hey Tele295 that's a much better picture!

Did you see the rest of the guitar? It's gorgeous. Custom lefty AJL

Tele295

AJL guitars ....... I just realized that AJL are my daughter's initials. Do you think it's a sign? :roll:

RGFC

The most natural way to quieten a tailpiece is to make sure it is placed correctly. Leather and felt pieces can increase the resonance/wetness of a tailpiece by messing up the tight right angle where the tailpiece bends over the back. The way the Busato style tailpiece is placed also makes the top react differently to a Selmer style, more energy from the string hits the top. There are a variety of ways to quieten a tailpiece but often its a sum of the design of the guitar. The ideal way is with a top with a large bump or pliage, its the only way to get 0% shimmer from the strings between bridge and tailpiece and the tailpiece itself and all of the energy of the string hitting the bridge instead of being wasted. A big part of the Busato builds etc.