Tailpiece?

musicofanatic · May 2005

Can anyone tell me about Selmer-style tailpieces? The consensus seems to be that the orig. equip. on the Saga gtr should be replaced and the DR t.p. is THE ONE. Anyone know if the t.p. sold by Stu/Mac is a DR, or if is it, at least an upgrade from the Saga? I also saw one at Luthier's Merc that did not say the manufacturer for a price comparable to S/M. I did see a DR somewhere for $100. Is this the best price available? Thanks.

mmaslan · May 2005

Stew-Mac has them for $60:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Acoustic_guitar_tailpieces/1/Selmer_Guitar_Tailpiece/Pictures.html#details

djangology · May 2005

i would say that the concensus is that although the stock tailpieces bend slightly that there is nothing wrong with it and you should consider just living with it... it would suck to get a new tailpiece and have the same thing happen wouldn't it? its part of what gives those guitars character if you ask me.

Josh Hegg · May 2005

Next time you take the strings off take the tailpiece off and cut a piece of leather that fits under it. Make sure that the leather bit goes up and over the top plate and about .5 inch under the tailpiece. It will help with buzzing as well as pressure cracks from the tailpiece going over the edge. Do this even if you get a new tailpiece. Make sense?

Cheers

mmaslan · May 2005

I'd be careful about the leather I used. Some leather guitar straps can damage the guitar's finish. It's a matter of how the leather is treated.

drolling · May 2005

I put a nickle plated DR on my 250M, mostly for esthetic reasons as it is a better match with the chromed tuners. It really isn't much thicker than the original, but fits the guitar without any modification or redrilling. Besides the plating (they also come in plain brass or gold plated), the main differences are the inclusion of a red leather insert and an ebony block. The black plastic block of the stock tailpiece looks much better if you remove the glossy shine with some triple zero grade steel wool (cover the brass with tape before doing this).

musicofanatic · May 2005

My questions remain: is the one offered by Stu/Mac (or Luthier's Merc) a DR, or at least a better one than the Saga?, and is $100 the best price going for a DR? I already have some cool reptile-print red leather in place to ease the stress on the bend. It just makes sense that a stouter t.p. would lose less vibration. Thanks again.