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Tailpiece

TcRoc

New member
Joined
Oct 25, 2017
Messages
33
2z6ee52.jpg
[/IMG]Just oiled my fret board and changed strings.. tweeked my action as I think I bumped the thumb wheels when I had strings off.. looked my tailpiece as was like wtf.. It plays fine just seems extreme . There is only a thickness of paper for break angle this just seems odd to me... my other paul is more in toe with each other..
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Last edited:

kevinkjs

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
56
By looking at your pic, it looks like the thumb wheel on the bass side of your bridge is a bit high. Check your string height
on your low E string at the 12th fret. The "normal" playing height is usually about 5/64 from bottom of string to the top of
the 12th fret. Get that right and you should be able to screw the tailpiece stud down considerably. Hope this helps.
 

rick c

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2016
Messages
282
I hope this isn't a troll thread. The bridge is all wrong and the tailpiece is simply mirroring the bridge; why? Why such an abnormally shallow break angle from bridge to tailpiece? The severe angle of the bridge would, on any of my Gibsons, result in super high low E and super low high E action. Without seeing the rest of the guitar from the appropriate perspectives, it's impossible to comment any further on what's going on.
 

TcRoc

New member
Joined
Oct 25, 2017
Messages
33
I hope this isn't a troll thread. The bridge is all wrong and the tailpiece is simply mirroring the bridge; why? Why such an abnormally shallow break angle from bridge to tailpiece? The severe angle of the bridge would, on any of my Gibsons, result in super high low E and super low high E action. Without seeing the rest of the guitar from the appropriate perspectives, it's impossible to comment any further on what's going on.

Yeah its a troll thread ... u got me.. the action was and still is 5/64 and in between 3 and 4/64 on high E. The bridge is not all wrong . The tailpiece If u read my post had all but a paper thickness break angle between string on high and low e from touching bridge .. I have since took apart and put back together with normal to me looking tailpiece.. I have zero idea what was going on.. hense why I posted a question in the Tech area...as I also stated in my post I could not understand it as all played well while looking as it did..
 

rick c

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2016
Messages
282
TcRoc: for reference, I have 3 Gibsons all of which I've owned for over 30 years. The Gibson stock tailpiece and tunomatic bridge is dinosaur technology compared to my more modern guitars. I use 10-46 strings on my ES335 and ES Artist and 8-38 on my LPC (87). I set up all three with very low action and would consider the (kevinkjs) 5/64 low E, 3/64 high E typical for light action. If I set up any of my guitars like the picture you shared, they would be unplayable. If they were playable, the necks would be badly set and possibly twisted. This is why I asked for more pictures because the one you shared defies logic.

I read your thread which is why I asked about the mirroring of the tailpiece; why was this done? It also makes little sense; I set my tailpiece height so the strings only just don't touch the rear edge of the bridge. Many more people crank the tailpiece all the way down; I've never seen one set so high that the strings hardly drop at all behind the saddles. You state that with the (extreme) angle of the bridge, and it is extreme in the picture, "it plays just fine"; I guess this is a very subjective comment. In your last post you state that you took it apart and put it back together and now it looks "normal". Please help me here; is the bridge now flatter or is it still cranked way up on the low side and way down on the high side? If it's flatter then it's obviously not the same action now as it was before, yet you claim it is. Physically impossible.

Anyhow, I'm glad you are sorted out and the guitar plays well; that's all that counts. The only reasons I queried the validity of your original post was because the picture was so abnormal, believe me, the picture you shared was far from normal, and there were no pictures showing the rest of the guitar. More pictures would have helped to determine if there was a neck issue.
 
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