MapleFlame
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2005
- Messages
- 14,044
Prepare for my hate mail barrage...
Don't hurt me :rofl
Prepare for my hate mail barrage...
I had the guitar refretted, the original frets were gone. No issue with playing hard. Double sided tape would cure that
My Mojo tailpiece came with two Allen screws that you can use in place of the regular flathead screws. This helps to make it more stable and prevents it from moving. My top was not pristine, so I was not worried if it left a mark. Even if it did, it would be in the same place as the factory screws. The Mojo is very stable. My 53 takes a beating and stays in tune, pretty much like my Tuneomatic and stoptail Les Paul's!
I can appreciate the fact that you can install the Mojo Axe trapeze tailpiece/bridge on a '52 or '53 Les and modify a guitar with an awkward bridge into an instrument with much improved playability.
But I'm not convinced that such a guitar will play and sound as good as a '54 Les Paul with a stop-tailpiece. I haven't played one of these guitars so my comments are not supported by first hand experience. And this is in no way intended to disparage those who have installed these bridges on their guitars.
In a nutshell, I just don't see how this tailpiece/bridge can provide adequate down-force or coupling with the maple top. At the bridge there is no string pressure directed downwards into the maple top.
The shortcoming with this tailpiece/bridge design is that it couples directly with the body of the guitar near the strap lock, and not the maple top, unlike the '54 Les Paul. There is minimal or negligible coupling with the maple top and the guitar's strings. I believe the later stop-tailpiece, and/or, tune-o-matic designs are vastly superior.
Lastly, the 4 degree pitch of the neck in the '54 - '60 Les Paul Standard models provides much better playability over the 1 or 2 degree pitch on the '52 and '53 models.
Just my $0.02. Again....not intending to disparage any guitar owners who have installed this modification. Enjoy your guitars and rock on. :applaude
I too, have 52, 54, 56 and 57 Goldtops. They are all great guitars. You can have 10 of each and all may sound different, maybe some better, some similar. But the trap mod tailpiece gets the job done.