MIMF

John Clifford wrote:

Randolph Rhett wrote:

John Clifford wrote:This is one of the reasons I have abandoned the Benedetto cello style tailpiece fastener. I think D’Aquisto had a better idea, which was to make a 1/2 wood and 1/2 metal hinge. The top piece is wood and the end piece is metal. A steel pin runs through both to make the hinge. I’ll try to add a couple pictures of the one I just made. This uses 1/2 of a brass hinge I got from a marine supply company, but you could make your own out of brass stock.

BTW Jim, that is one seriously beefy brass hinge. Can you share where that came from?

Randolph, I'm not sure if you were addressing me or Jim, but the brass hinge part shown in my photos above came from a Whitecap brass strap hinge, part #S-604BC. You can find these on numerous marine supply websites, or amazon. It's heavier than it needs to be, but I like solid hardware and I don't think it hurts to add some mass at the tail end.

Thanks. I just ordered a set from Amazon to play with. After my experience with the exploding tailpiece, I’m keen to experiment with a more substantial solution. If you search the Internet you can see a lot of references to “brass” hinges on Ibanez, Epiphone, etc., giving out at the hinge. That is one reason I prefer the strap. But I’m always looking for a hinge solution.

Actually it was fairly light, although I didn't weigh it. I suspect it was no heavier than a wood tailpiece.

The 1/16" brass pins through the string beads in the tailpiece are actually just there to keep them from flipping around and coming loose. The holes that the ball ends go into are lined with brass tube, and the ball end bears on that. The holes are drilled at an angle backward, so that tension on the strings pulls them deeper into the anchor. Once the tension is off it's easy to remove the strings by simply lifting them up. It's a little fussy setting this up, but it's very reliable, easy for the customer to deal with, and there are no pins to lose.

Interesting! Thanks Alan.