My EUB under construction..

[ZolkoW]

Hi to everyone!
Well, I have a question on tailpieces.

I'm currently constructing my first EUB, after a couple of four-string electric basses..
The problem is, that I made a tailpiece for my EUB, but I made a mistake, and it's too short... (It's only 1..1,5cm shorter than needed. the silk on the string endings run over the fingerboard)
So after I realized, that it means a new tailpiece, I started thinking of a "floating" one, used on the violin family successfully for hundreds of years.

here's a picture of my 5string being born:


The present tailpiece is made from 5mm aluminium plate. wanted to paint it black, but now I'm really planning to make it from wood, especially from wenge (from which the fingerboard is carved). And, to be similar to ones used on double basses, I'm anchoring it with a tailgut.. (I had to search up for the name )

What do you think?
Won't be a problem, that every sting's pitch would affect the other's? I mean, because the tailpiece can move sideward, tuning one string can pull the tailpiece, which alters the other string's tuning a bit..

How is it on tradicional instruments?


anyway: I'm converting from bassguitar... so I made my new toy a 34" scale. I'm also new in that 5 string-thing, always had 4 string basses. Will use Rotosound Black Nylon strings, hoping that would give me a nice DB-ish sound... as long as a solid-body "elektrik" could sound like a DB
It has mahagony body and neck, with wenge fingerboard.
I know now, thet wenge isn't as perfect for fretless boards, but I'm going to epoxy it, and anyway, I will use it only with flats..
more pictures coming, if you are interested..

thanks for reading.

[Frank Martin]

Szép!

I think the change in tension after tuning up would be small when you are fine-tuning. It might move, but not by much.
And yes, some more pictures!

[ZolkoW]

Originally Posted by Frank Martin

Szép!

Yeah, I've just made a search for members from Hungary before the post, and was amused, that there are some!
I've seen your six-string, and really liked it!

sorry from the others, it's in hungarian, but you can read it
http://www.dikid.hu/bm/proj_eub.php
(some pictures on the process.. anyway, the pics are speaking for themselves, so don't worry about the hungarian )
In case of HUGE interests, I may start an English version.. but not with these English skills

*edit: uh.. I mean LUTHIERY bugz! not lutherie..

[Frank Martin]

Originally Posted by ZolkoW

In case of HUGE interests, I may start an English version.. but not with this English skills

Nyugi. Ha kell, szívesen lefordítom

[ZolkoW]

Originally Posted by Frank Martin

Nyugi. Ha kell, szívesen lefordítom

well, we can talk about it... after the project finishes!
And I'll put you in the "special thanks" section on my webpage!

OFF: how did you manage to get that Schroeder cab?
Do you live really in Budapest, or do you get often abroad?
As I see, you are familiar to those Warmoth parts, etc..
many resources isn't as easy to get here, in Hungary..
(ezt a többieknek mondom)

[Frank Martin]

Originally Posted by ZolkoW

well, we can talk about it... after the project finishes!
And I'll put you in the "special thanks" section on my webpage!

OFF: how did you manage to get that Schroeder cab?
Do you live really in Budapest, or do you get often abroad?
As I see, you are familiar to those Warmoth parts, etc..
many resources isn't as easy to get here, in Hungary..
(ezt a többieknek mondom)

Well, getting Jörg's cab here was quite problematic.
When he was about to send it, it turned out that USPS doesn't ship things this size here... But Jörg is a great guy and as he said, since he gave his word, he'll have it shipped to me even if hell freezes over. In the end, we had it shipped to my aunt in Vienna.

I rarely go abroad; but there are other resources, too.
Luthier's Mercantile International - lmii.com
I got the bridge directly from ABM - they were very nice, too. abm-mueller.de, IIRC
There's also rockinger.de (iirc) for cheap parts
and also: ebay.de

[ZolkoW]

Thanks for the links! I'll check them out - the first one is kind of familiar.. there seem to be other good resources, too (tutorials, etc).
so thanks again!

[Frank Martin]

Originally Posted by ZolkoW

Thanks for the links! I'll check them out - the first one is kind of familiar.. there seem to be other good resources, too (tutorials, etc).
so thanks again!

If you need tutorials, I've got some more links. Somewhere...

[ZolkoW]

I had some quick experiences with a steel wire rope, using it for anchoring the aluminium tailpiece. I saw off the upper side of the TP, and now it's hanging on that wire.

I've got two problems: first is, hat I didn't know how to lock the wire in the TP in a proper way, so I have some bad feelings about exploding tailpieces.. (till now, it seems to hold the string wery well)
second, that tuning up after stringing is a bit long, as tuning a string to a proper tension makes the others get some looser, because the TP can move sideways.
May be, its just a first time matter, and it needs time to accomodate but so far the winner is the fixed tailpiece.

[Frank Martin]

I hope the pc keeps working till I write this again...

So:
I have a guitar around here with a floating tailpiece.
It looks like a bent piece of chromed aluminium - the end looks like a C

Sorta like:

 /--------
|
 \__/

The trick with tuning is to put on all strings, tune a bit on them all at once, then rough-tune them, and only then comes precise tuning.

Hope this helps

[ZolkoW]

yeah, I have some ideas, how to make a semi-floating tailpiece, which doesn't have wires, but can move a little, or even the moving is limited to the other direction (perpendicular to body)
I didn't decide yet, what construction is going to be applied.

I'm sure, the ease of tuning depends also on the distance between the bridge and the tailpiece. The farther the TP, the easier to tune. And I think, the best is to run the strings parallel behind the bridge (now the anchoring holes are closer than the string spacing at bridge), all these make the particular string to have less affect on the others.
But in my case, I have to keep the TP near, so maybe I'm going ahead with fixed tailpiece.
Or something like that on your guitar.

With the old TP, some days ago I tried three different type of strings: all were 'A' strings, and I put them on simultaneously, there was a RW, a FW, and a nylon flatwound bassguitar string.
Of course, the nylon had the best sound, closest to the desired
I won't finish the neck, until I feel I can set a decent action with it.
I understand, that it's not a fretless bassguitar (as I dont want it to be one) , so I need some higher action.
I also tried it with a primitive pickup, through my amp... sounds promising! especially with the nylon strings.