DetroitBlues Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 I've been considering replacing the schaller tailpiece with a regular stop tail or a vibrated B5 bigsby.. Does anyone know if the holes of the schaller the same as that of tone pros or nashville stoptails????
mars_hall Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 I've been considering replacing the schaller tailpiece with a regular stop tail or a vibrated B5 bigsby.. Does anyone know if the holes of the schaller the same as that of tone pros or nashville stoptails???? The tailpiece studs are english and the same. 7/16"-24 as I recall They do have a different head on them
DetroitBlues Posted February 26, 2011 Author Posted February 26, 2011 The tailpiece studs are english and the same. 7/16"-24 as I recall They do have a different head on them Does that mean I shouldn't consider non schaller replacements?
mars_hall Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 Does that mean I shouldn't consider non schaller replacements? Doesn't have to be Schaller... just means that you will have to replace the studs due to the head on the Schaller studs. I've used Pro-line LP ones from GC before (inexpensive)
DetroitBlues Posted February 26, 2011 Author Posted February 26, 2011 Doesn't have to be Schaller... just means that you will have to replace the studs due to the head on the Schaller studs My new guitar has an appointment with a luthier on Tuesday. I'm having some attention drawn to the unfinished replacement nut that someone put on there. Maybe I'll ask if he can see if his Gibson parts will fit on it.
mars_hall Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 My new guitar has an appointment with a luthier on Tuesday. I'm having some attention drawn to the unfinished replacement nut that someone put on there. Maybe I'll ask if he can see if his Gibson parts will fit on it. The US Gibson parts (non metric) should work. I've put TP-6 Gibson fine tuner tailpieces on all my 150s
H Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 The TonePros bridge and tailpiece lock to the studs which may or may not improve tone but is definitely a BIG help when changing strings They are a drop-in replacement for the Schaller items, no drilling or other messing about required.
Guest HRB853370 Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 Detroitblues, which Heritage did you end up getting and WHERE are the photos? Congratulations!! What a wait for you!
Guest HRB853370 Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 The US Gibson parts (non metric) should work. I've put TP-6 Gibson fine tuner tailpieces on all my 150s Mark, Spectrum13 gave me a Gibson style stopbar tailpiece. So are you saying most likely, I will need to pull out the studs that are currently used for the stock Schaller tailpiece that came on the guitar, and use the studs that came with the Gibson Nashville style tailpiece otherwise it wont work because of the heads are a little different? Thanks
Hfan Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 There has been multiple threads here on this subject. If you do a search you should find some good info. I was considering a similar move for my 157 and on a previous thread (maybe 1-2 months ago) a company named Marquis from California was recommended for parts due to their experience / knowledge with Heritage retro fits. Supposedly they can walk you through. Are you also replacing a Schaller roller bridge? found a link http://www.marquisdistribution.com/
mars_hall Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 Mark, Spectrum13 gave me a Gibson style stopbar tailpiece. So are you saying most likely, I will need to pull out the studs that are currently used for the stock Schaller tailpiece that came on the guitar, and use the studs that came with the Gibson Nashville style tailpiece otherwise it wont work because of the heads are a little different? Thanks If I understand you correctly, yes. The glued-in part (barrels) on the Heritage guitar should be OK as is. The imported Gibsons (Epis, etc) sometimes use metric, but the US Gibsons are English thread on the tailpiece.
Joey Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 On my H555, I replaced the bridge with a Callaham and the stop tail with Tone Pro. What a tonal difference. Unamplified, the guitar went from sounding like a banjo to an acoustic guitar. What a difference!
DetroitBlues Posted February 28, 2011 Author Posted February 28, 2011 Detroitblues, which Heritage did you end up getting and WHERE are the photos? Congratulations!! What a wait for you! I just purchased on Friday, a 1985 H-140CM VCB with small block inlays. Beautiful guitar! Need to find the right camera to take the pics.
DetroitBlues Posted February 28, 2011 Author Posted February 28, 2011 Oh, after playing it for a couple hours, I broke the high e. Whenever I am changing strings, I always take all of them off so I can clean the guitar and fretboard. I was shocked when the bridge and tailpiece fell right off! Worse part was the bridge thumb screws moved easliy and the posts for the tailpeice turn on me too! I guessimated the heights when I restrung the guitar with 11's. Couldn't put it down today, the guitar just wants to rock the blues... (Needs a little bit of an electronics over haul, neck PU is not cutting it)
mars_hall Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 (Needs a little bit of an electronics over haul, neck PU is not cutting it) Have you tried adjusting the pickup height and pole pieces? This makes huge differences in the response you can get.
H Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 I just purchased on Friday, a 1985 H-140CM VCB with small block inlays. Beautiful guitar! Need to find the right camera to take the pics. Well done
DRMc Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 DetroitBlues I have '97 H-140 that I replaced the Schaller tailpiece and bridge on with a Gibson stoptail and a Nashville tune-a-matic bridge without any modifications.Like mars_hall was saying, you will have to remove the Schaller studs and use the studs that come with a Gibson stoptail.They will screw right into the inserts that are mounted in your guitar...the threads are the same.
Joey Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Oh, after playing it for a couple hours, I broke the high e. Whenever I am changing strings, I always take all of them off so I can clean the guitar and fretboard. I was shocked when the bridge and tailpiece fell right off! Worse part was the bridge thumb screws moved easliy and the posts for the tailpeice turn on me too! I guessimated the heights when I restrung the guitar with 11's. Couldn't put it down today, the guitar just wants to rock the blues... (Needs a little bit of an electronics over haul, neck PU is not cutting it) Same thing happened to me when I first changed the strings the first time. I replaced my tailpiece with a TonePro locking tailpiece which stays fixed with locking studs. Luckily that heavy tailpiece did not damage the finish of the guitar when it fell off.
DetroitBlues Posted February 28, 2011 Author Posted February 28, 2011 I've messed with PU's before, so I've adjusted it a few times. Two issue's I'm having, one the Neck PU is not very clear no matter how I have it adjusted and the solder for it in the middle position is cold because barely any volume comes out of it. I rather like the bridge PU. I'm glad to hear Tonepros parts fit perfectly. I think with a guitar that has relic'd a little bit for being 26 years old, I'll go with aluminum instead of chrome...
Hfan Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 DetroitBlues I have '97 H-140 that I replaced the Schaller tailpiece and bridge on with a Gibson stoptail and a Nashville tune-a-matic bridge without any modifications.Like mars_hall was saying, you will have to remove the Schaller studs and use the studs that come with a Gibson stoptail.They will screw right into the inserts that are mounted in your guitar...the threads are the same. For those who have replaced the Schaller bridge, did you use the pre-notched bridge and if so how was the high e string placement? When I got my 157 the E would fret out on bends which I remedied by using the roller on the Schaller bridge. In this case that feature came in handy for me. I was considering the pre-notched bridge but I was worried about the high E position being too close to the edge. I may bite the bullet and get the un-notched bridge and have my tech replace the nut and hardware. FWIW, My 157 is pretty resonant with the stock Schaller hardware. Guess it would be more so after the swap.
DetroitBlues Posted February 28, 2011 Author Posted February 28, 2011 I rather like the bridge. Makes it easy for bends as the strings won't have a tendancy to snap and it doesn't cut into the hands like a Tunomatic type bridge. The tailpiece on the other hand is nice but not what I prefer.
DRMc Posted March 1, 2011 Posted March 1, 2011 Hfan,I replaced the Schaller roller bridge on my H-140 with an unnotched bridge.I bought a Nashville tune-a-matic style bridge from Stew-Mac, got the string spacing where I liked it, and notched it with a set of nut files.As far as the action on the high E string goes,just use the thumbwheels to raise it enough to keep it from choking out during bends.The reason I replaced the original roller bridge on mine was because everytime I changed strings I would mess up the string spacing no matter how careful I was.The roller bridge is a great idea, it just didn't work for me unless I glued in the rollers,which kinda defeats the purpose...LOL.
Hfan Posted March 1, 2011 Posted March 1, 2011 Hfan,I replaced the Schaller roller bridge on my H-140 with an unnotched bridge.I bought a Nashville tune-a-matic style bridge from Stew-Mac, got the string spacing where I liked it, and notched it with a set of nut files.As far as the action on the high E string goes,just use the thumbwheels to raise it enough to keep it from choking out during bends.The reason I replaced the original roller bridge on mine was because everytime I changed strings I would mess up the string spacing no matter how careful I was.The roller bridge is a great idea, it just didn't work for me unless I glued in the rollers,which kinda defeats the purpose...LOL. Thanks DRMc, The high E spacing I was referring to was side to side (with regard to the edge of the fingerboard), the up and down thumbwheel adjustment is not an issue. My highly regarded guitar tech actually likes the Schaller roller bridge he does notch them though when he gets the proper lateral position. Guess he makes a burr on the threads to keep them stationary. I keep hearing here about the great increase in tone and sustain from the replacements so I'm wondering what I'm missing. I have all kinds of mini metal files but I'm not as brave as you are, don't want to learn on my own new bridge.
DRMc Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 Sorry Hfan...I misunderstood what you were saying.I don't know about the pre-notched bridges, so I wouldn't be much help there.Now as far as getting more or better sustain by replacing the roller bridge, I did not find that to be the case.Tonewise the roller bridge and the Nashville style produce the same results.Hope that helps...
Hfan Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 Sorry Hfan...I misunderstood what you were saying.I don't know about the pre-notched bridges, so I wouldn't be much help there.Now as far as getting more or better sustain by replacing the roller bridge, I did not find that to be the case.Tonewise the roller bridge and the Nashville style produce the same results.Hope that helps... Actually it does make me less curious about replacing the bridge and incurring the cost and hassle thereof. Like I said it sounds good as is and the tail piece on my trans black 157 doesen't look too bad to me (just don't turn the guitar up side down when replacing the strings). I may try a little non permanent lock tite (the blue I think) for the rollers, they can move on there own (better than notching the threads).
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