Alter Ego Introduces New Tunable Tailpiece

[TalkBass]

“Our tailpiece allows tuning of the afterlength portion of each string. There are many valid theories on the afterlength tonal role and its setup, but we believe there is no ideal formula as many factors may come into play: inherent features of the instrument, sound post, strings, etc.

By trial and error, with a ruler, or a bow, with this tailpiece it is possible to easily verify all these theories and find the best tonal setup for each instrument.”

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[bassadvisor]

For 195€ seems a bad joke. Good idea, but far too much for what it is.

 

[dkimbrobass]

So, basically it's a tune-able Marvin? For $200? Sigh,I had a Marvin for a while. Sure, I reckon it works for some basses/players, but when I put my ebony tailpiece back on I was way happier with everything...sound, feel, etc. Not to be the "cranky old man," but I know that my sound improve(d) more when I focused on the player, especially once I owned a quality instrument with a setup from a good luthier. Sure, uprights are big animals that need a lot of care and maintenance to sound their best, and the whole (sound) can be greater than the sum of those undoubtedly important smaller parts, but I'm starting to feel like all these tailpieces and such are akin to the snake-oils of old. Though, I suppose if it makes you feel better about your bass/sound, then it's worth as much as you're comfortable spending, it's just that I'd rather drop that kind of coin on new strings rather than a cable tailpiece.

 

[MarkA]

I remember seeing a few folks using the Marvins, years back, and one guy I know fabricated his own wire tailpiece -- I only remember him using it for a specific composition, though. Bass rang like a cathedral bell, which could be good or bad.

This is a good bit of coin (don't know what the Marvins go for now)... don't know if I would pick one up or not. On the other hand, I am geeky enough that, if I had one, I would certainly spend hours messing about with it. I can believe that it would make some instruments sound/play better, others worse. Neat idea, anyway. I have a carbon fiber endpin in my cello -- I liked some of the changes it made, disliked others.