Double Bass Tailpiece Trouble

[MidniteBottle87]

The ends of the strings on my DB have started to wear through the felt, and are consequently pressing in upon the tailpiece and leaving small cuts in the wood. It doesn't seem to be a big deal now, but knowing my luck with instruments, this situation is bound to exacerbate itself. The first thing into which I seek insight is where this problem starts. Is it simply the pressure of bare wire on wood, or is this tension from a maladjusted bridge? What else could it be? The second thing would be 'what now?' do I need to replace the strings themselves, or is there a cheaper, quicker fix, such as putting a buffer between the string and the tail, or readjusting the tail?

 

[Paul Warburton]

Felts/bare wire?

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

Do you mean the silk? I have small grooves in the whateveryouwannacallitifyoucaretocallitanything strip at the top of my one year old tailpiece and it doesn't bother me at all.
If the felt on the ball end behind the tailpiece were missing I suppose the balls would be grooving the back of the tailpiece.
We wouldn't want to have that now. Behave yourself.

Edit: I couldn't figure out how to work a 'felt' in there. Sorry.

 

[MidniteBottle87]

Allow me to clear up the ambiguities. Yes, I meant the silk wrapped around the ball end of the string, which the end of the string has eaten through, and is now going after the wood on which it rests.

 

[MidniteBottle87]

And by 'wire' I meant the thin string used to hold the ball in place, beyond the winding of the string.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

Doesn't sound like anything to worry about, IMO. Get some new strings, sounds like it may be time.