Be sure to tighten down those....

[Kazwell]

....tailpiece screws. I was messing around and decided to check. And sure enough, I had at least three complete turns on those screws to get them tightened down. NOW my H-150 sounds much more like an LP. More of that crunchy, sustaining sound we all know and most of us love..... 8)

 

Let this be a lesson folks!!!! Check to see if those screws are tightened down. It does make a tone difference, a BIG tone difference!

[Thundersteel]

Just beware that if the tailpiece is screwed down all the way, more than likely the strings will hit the bridge. I've heard this will not only dampen desirable overtones, but will, over time, cause the bridge to warp.

 

I think this was discussed in another thread, but I can't be sure.

[Dick Seacup]

I think the tightened down tailpiece has to be one of the most discussed aspects of LP-type guitar "tone."  When I've cranked mine down, the strings did indeed hit the back of the bridge.  I don't know if that caused any problems or reduced overall tonal quality of sustain, but aesthetically it was displeasing to my eye.   I have heard, though, that top wrapping the tailpiece will allow one to crank the stop all the way to the top and not have the strings kinked over the back of the bridge. 

 

Covach?  T-Steel?  Cosmik?  Bueller?  Bueller?  Anyone?

[brentrocks]

The thing i worry about, and this is only an issure w/ the tripple HB 170, is that if i raise the tailpiece so that the strings dont hit the bridge, i'm afraid that it will raise the center of gravity on the tailpiece posts and allow them to be pulled forward over time.

 

you know what i mean?  ???

[GuitArtMan]

This is probably the most highly debated topic about setting up Gwords.  I've collapsed not one, but two bridges on my Les Paul be cranking the tail piece all the way down.  I now crank it down and top wrap for the best of both worlds.  My H-535 I tried top wrapping and there wasn't enough downwards pressure at the bridge to get good tone/sustain so I went back to normal wrap.  I've seen spacers both for out side of the studs and some for inside the stud bushings so the tail piece can be cranked down solid, but still be raised up to get a softer break angle at the strings. 

Check out the tail piece here with spaces to raise it off the body:

http://cvgshop.com/Faber-Parts-Tone-Lock/c...af466c99f8c3ed6

I think StewMac sells or Dan Erlewin improvised something for inside the bushings as well.  He's really into "coupling" as he calls it.

[Thundersteel]

Next time I change strings, I'm going to try the top-wrap method. I never liked having the tailpiece off the body, so I'll crank that sucker down and see what happens.

[brentrocks]

Next time I change strings, I'm going to try the top-wrap method. I never liked having the tailpiece off the body, so I'll crank that sucker down and see what happens.

 

i tried the wrap around and it didnt hold tune well..did i do something wrong?

[cosmikdebriis]

Personally... and IMHO of course...

 

I don't like the wrap around as I think all that extra bending of the strings leaves it easier for them to go out of tune...

 

Also... If you intend to put spacers under the bridge. Be VERY... VERY... VERY..careful what you use.

 

You should use, what I can bes describe as, a piece of sawn off pipe (ideally with a small flange on the top) that is only just big enough to go round the threads of the tailpiece screws and is small enough in diameter (bottom) to fit into the (probable) slight cavity in the guitar body, and sit directly on top of the Erm... don't know if there's a name for it, threaded bit of metal sunk into the body of the guitar... (Know what I mean).

 

The reason for this is quite simple but extremely important. If you use a washer or similar device that sits on top of the body but does not touch aforementioned but un named bit. Then you will effectively be making a stud extractor and when you tighten the bridge screws, you will loosen the Erm... other bits. They are only a push fit into the guitar body.

 

Also... From an electrical safety point of view. If you do disturb the... "Nerps" (From now on, unless someone knows better they're called Nerps) then you may break the earthing wire which is commonly resting against aforementioned nerps.

 

All in all... Structurally, the pipe spacers are best if you want to raise your tailpiece, but discretion is advised as the higher the tailpiece, the more leverage on those poor old nerps.

[Kazwell]

Just beware that if the tailpiece is screwed down all the way, more than likely the strings will hit the bridge. I've heard this will not only dampen desirable overtones, but will, over time, cause the bridge to warp.

 

This makes sense. Unfortunately I checked and the strings are resting on the bridge. Just barely, but clearly on it. I even tried loosening up the tailpiece about three turns, as it was before I messed with it. but it wasn't enough to get the strings off the bridge.  But for the life of me, I swear I am hearing more desireable overtones than ever  before. I mean, I have the crunchy squeaky punchy tone I have been searching for. for quite a while with this guitar. Plus the action is amazing AND it staying in tune better. I am using 9s now, which I feel play a big part. Hopefully that will be less stress on the bridge. I am honestly afraid to change anything now. I cannot put this guitar down. It plays and sounds like a freaking dream.

 

I may still go ahead an pick up the parts they sell to raise the tailpiece. I also noticed on my Epiphone LP that the saddles on the bridge are taller which helps keep the strings from laying on the bridge. Is this considered a viable solution?

[High Flying Bird]

i tried the wrap around ........

 

Dear God man, have you no decency? 

[High Flying Bird]

I am using 9s now, which I feel play a big part. Hopefully that will be less stress on the bridge. I am honestly afraid to change anything now. I cannot put this guitar down. It plays and sounds like a freaking dream. 

 

Kaz, try a set of DR Pure Blues 10's.  They have a loose quality that makes them easy to bend and they give great tone and sustain.  In the "Nashville thread you complained about your sustain when playing unplugged.  If you don't like these strings after the first set I will buy you a set of your choice. 

 

I remember holding my 150 and hitting the 1st string on the 12th fret and slightly shaking it and it would go on for so long.  Using a little finger vibrato will bring out the wood too.  Use the fat ass of the 150 in counter balance to your fretting hand and the headstock.  That will give you some sustain!  A bit of tone too. 

[jacques]

I never heard a real difference with the tailpiece screwed all the way down + top wrapping vs. the original factory settings. Eventually I put things like they were, making sure I screwed the tailpiece as far down as possible and checking with some thin piece of cigarette paper whether the strings were not resting on the back of the bridge. The thing is you gotta try for the sharpest possible string angle.

 

Dan Erlewine says some interesting things about this: On Les Pauls made from 1954 until the late '60s and on other solid body and semi-hollow ES-style models that followed the Les Paul, the neck-to-body angle was a very precise 4 degrees. I don't know exactly when it happened, but by the time Gibson relocated to Nashville, the neck angle had increased to 5 degrees and, at times, even 6 degrees. Gibson's Kalamazoo builders were highly skilled and had a long history of guitar building behind them. It's reasonable to expect that it would take time for Gibson to set up a new factory in Nashville, train new builders, and bring them to the level of guitarmaking that had existed in Kalamazoo. When fitting a neck to a body, a builder must be able to hold close tolerances and set a neck at exactly a certain angle, which is a difficult task. Four degrees -plus or minus very little- had proven to be the optimum neck pitch for the ABR-1 Tune-O-matic bridge. At 4 degrees the bridge sits low and close to the body, with sometimes as little as 1/16" inch clearance below the treble hight thumbwheel in a normal setup. With these low profile (by design) bridges, you can tightly screw the stopbar to the body. (....) It may seem absurd that 1 degree can make a big difference, but as soon as the neck angle changed to 5 degrees, it made a huge difference at the bridge end. The bridge may be as much as 1/4" higher than bridges used with a 4 degree neck pitch.(...) So if the top of your (...) highest bridge saddle (where the strings rest) is higher than 11/16" to 3/4", the neck is probably set at a 5 degree angle, and your bridge may, over a period of time, collapse if you screw the stop bar down.

 

As a European I am not used to your silly (this is a British heritage, boys...) non-metric measuring but I have always been very curious as to what degree the necks of our Heritage guitars are set. I don't think Erlewine is a Gibbon hater nor a Heritage lover (never read anything about a Heritage in his books), so his remarks about the switch to Nashville are quite interesting! Can you guys do some measuring? All I know is that I could not screw down the tailpiece on my 150. I could on my 535.

[Kazwell]

Kaz, try a set of DR Pure Blues 10's.  They have a loose quality that makes them easy to bend and they give great tone and sustain.  In the "Nashville thread you complained about your sustain when playing unplugged.  If you don't like these strings after the first set I will buy you a set of your choice. 

 

I AM using DR Nickel wounds...actually they have a hex rather than round core. Really adds punch. I went back to DR's Pure blues 11's before this. If I am going lower than 11's 10's aren't enoug of a difference. The 9s feel great actually. I don't have big hands and I find I have more power over these strings. I can control the vibrato better when I am bending. Also they really sound good in general, not too bright, but still have a nice tone.