Tail piece saddle?

Heretic

I don't know if I'm using the correct term, or not, but can anyone tell me what the raised ridge is called that is on the top of the guitar, below the tail piece?
What's it's purpose?
Thank you.

Tele295

The purpose of that little ridge is to keep the tailpiece from vibrating against the soundboard. Vintage Selmers, etc. and even some of the older Saga Gitanes, etc. do NOT have this feature, and it is common practice to insert a little piece of leather to cushion the tailpiece and eliminate the vibrations.

All of the newer Saga instruments that I have inspected, including my 2007 Gitane DG300 and my girlfriend's 2008 Cigano GJ-15, have this ridge.

The ridge has been used in violin/viola/cello/bass construction for many years (centuries?) for exactly the same purpose.

Tele295

Yeah, I'll go out on a limb and say centuries. Here is "Le Messie" made by Stardivarius in 1716, and you can see the ridge. I'd love to examine this violin up close - I believe it is in a museum in Great Britain. It is held by many to be Stardivarius' masterpiece, although the inevitable doubts and controversies about who actually made it have ensued.

Heretic

Funny you should cite this violin. I have seen it up close in Oxford.

Tele295

Luck of the draw. It's the only specific, somewhat-stock Strad that I knew I coud find an online picture of on short notice.

So tell me, does Le Messie's finish look "wet" to you? That's how it's been described in some books.

Heretic

I truly don't remember about the finish, except that it wasn't as dull as I would have assumed. I was ,as always, looking at the construction, and the over-all elegance of this instrument. I don't play violin.

I wonder what Stephan might have sounded like with one of these?

Can we get back to the question of the ridge, and it's purpose. It's proper name, and stated purpose? I do agree with your proposition that's probably to lift the tail piece up and off the face of the guitar. But, what's the bloody thing called?

Heretic

I met with a violin maker today, and asked him what that raised bit under the tail piece is called. "A tail piece saddle", he said. I should have known...
He explained that it that it's to take pressure of the body of the instrument. I should have known...

He was quite interested to hear that our Selmer style guitars have one, and that our bridges are held in place with downward pressure.

bill raymond

Tele295 wrote:

The purpose of that little ridge is to keep the tailpiece from vibrating against the soundboard. Vintage Selmers, etc. and even some of the older Saga Gitanes, etc. do NOT have this feature, and it is common practice to insert a little piece of leather to cushion the tailpiece and eliminate the vibrations...

Actually, the original Maccaferri Selmer models did have this saddle. It was discontinued somewhere along the way and a piece of felt was put in as a cushion to keep the tailpiece from crushing the edge of the guitar. The saddle makes a lot of sense, and I always use one--no leather or felt needed!

Tele295

bill raymond wrote:

Actually, the original Maccaferri Selmer models did have this saddle. It was discontinued somewhere along the way and a piece of felt was put in as a cushion to keep the tailpiece from crushing the edge of the guitar. The saddle makes a lot of sense, and I always use one--no leather or felt needed!

I wonder why they discontinued it?

bill raymond

A good question! One can only speculate, but that old all-purpose reason "cost" or "ease of manufacture" seems a likely suspect. Installing the saddle, though not difficult, does require a bit of fiddling, cutting, fitting, et c., and if you can get by instead with a little piece of cloth...