How important is it to have a long enough tailpiece to shorten the afterlength to a particular tuning (as some recommend), or a particular ratio to the vibrating string length (as others specify)?
Chet
The
length of the tailpiece and tailpiece wire/string determine the length of the strings below the bridge (which can vibrate and thus add sound -- or even a wolf tone), but the
weight of the tailpiece is probably more important and has an effect on the sound of the bass. Weight is one set of issues, length of the strings below the bridge and of the tailpiece wire is another.
Both jazz and arco players want the tailpiece to vibrate. A vibrating tailpiece creates volume. A lighter tailpiece will vibrate more, producing a louder sound, particularly if both the strings between bridge and tailpiece and the tailpiece wire/cord are the right length. The heavier the tailpiece, the more the vibrations of the instrument are dampened. A lighter tailpiece will also create a slightly brighter sound, while the heavier tailpiece creates a richer, deeper, darker tone.
The lighter tailpiece increases volume but also brightness. The heavier tailpiece will dampen vibration (decrease volume) but gives a deeper tone. Jazzers want/need/like a slightly brighter punchier sound to cut through the mix, while orchestral/arco players prefer the "deeper darker richer" tones that the heavier tailpiece will produce but which bowing can bring out so well.
I have a Wittner Composite tailpiece one on one of my basses. It weighs about 5 oz., and replaced an ebony tailpiece of about 12.5 oz. After I put the Wittner on, the volume of the bass was increased very noticably. My sax and piano players heard me playing in another room and were surprized, coming over to where I was, to see I had no amp on and was just playing acoustically.
I also put a lighter tailpiece on my "gut" bass (actually, it has Animas on it now). It's a Mike Pecanic compensated tailpiece made of walnut. It is beautiful wood and I am very happy with the sound. About 6 oz., it replaced an ebony of 13 oz. I also lengthened the tailpiece cord and the whole setup vibrates very nicely. The increase in "voice" and volume of the instrument was immediate.
But you were asking about the tailpiece length. A longer tailpiece will shorten the strings below the bridge and can impact their ability to vibrate. Those vibrations can be good or bad, but are definitely tricky to tune. Some luthiers say its important to have the "proper length" (for your bass and taste) of string below the bridge so that they vibrate at the same frequency as the wood tone of the whole bass. If you know what that note is, then you can try to get there with at least one of the strings. It should increase volume and improve tone overall. It does on my Gruenert, which I discovered has a wood note of "G". Another bass might have a different note, less easy to work with...
The length of the tailpiece wire is also a factor. Chuck Traeger in his book "Setup and Repair of DB for Optimum Sound" says the wire should be no longer than 1.5 inches or so and the two wires should be no farther apart on the saddle than about 5/8 inch. I got a Velvet synthetic tailpiece string (not cheap) on the web for one bass and an inexpensive synthetic string from Jonas Lohse for about 7 bucks for the other bass. They are really about the same thing. I put one on my big Gruenert and in violation of Traeger's book the length is a good 2 inches. It sounds good, you can feel the tailpiece vibrating and I have the sense this string length adds some punch, which is what I like.
The advantages of using synthetic tailpiece string (over say, metal wire or cable) are: much more flexibility (= vibrations), plus you don't need any clamps or bolts, you just tie a good old square knot and it sets in after a day or two. It may need one adjustment to get it right. But these synthetic strings are as strong as or stronger than steel cables according to the information of the makers.
Cheers
Bill
