? I don't remeber seeing before

[John Bertotti]

I am curious as to the importance of the tailpiece width. How does it affect tone? Any rules of thumb in the design of one. I would think if it was to wide enough it wouldn't allow for proper bridge motion. Anyone have a clue? thanks john http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[sunburst]

Anyone have a clue?
I don't think so. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

When I designed my tailpiece I thought about that. I don't think it would be good to bunch the strings to closely together at the tailpiece because the downward preasure of the strings would be somewhat lateral in the bridge slots. Sometimes there is failure of the wood grain between strings on banjo bridges because of this.

At first thought it seems to make sence for the strings to be the same spacing as in the bridge so that they follow a straight path over the bridge, but they don't follow a parallel path to the bridge from the nut, so in order to actually follow a straight path they would need to continue to diverge in their path to the tailpiece. The tailpiece would have to be pretty wide to accomodate them.

So anyway, I decided to space the strings for asthetic reasons rather than assume that they might sound different. As long as the spacing is not extreem, I can't imagine there would be a noticable sound difference.
I drew the outline of the mandolin and drew in the strings and decided they looked best if they converged toward the tailpiece at the same rate that they converge toward the nut.

[John Bertotti]

Hey Sunburst, thanks again, I never thought about it until I decided to try and make a five course tailpiece. Thanks John

[Bob DeVellis]

I would think a bit of lateral angle as the string passes through the saddle grooves would be a good thing. That way, a slightly-wide groove wouldn't be as likely to buzz because the string would be pressed against the side edge. It's sort of the same argument (only in a differernt plane) for angling the bridge groove somewhere between the angle of the strings on either side. But what do I know?

[sunburst]

Bob, If the slot fits the string as it should, the string will not buzz at any reasonable angle through the slot in the bridge.
If it's poorly fit it will likely buzz or sound sub-par regardless of the angle. The break over angle of the strings establishes a downward force and prevents buzzes in a similar way as the nut slots you mentioned.

[JiminRussia]

I'm just being curious here. Is the string spacing detemined center to center on the dtrings or by how much space there is between the edges of the strings? I would think that the two "E" strings could be put a little closer together than the two "G" strings. To me, I would want to see the space between the courses of strings be the same. It just seems that it would be easier to develop a more accurate picking motion if that spaces were uniform, so wouldn't the different thicknesses of the strings have to be taken into account?

[sunburst]

Jim,
On a guitar with it's single coarses of strings, the spacing at the nut usually takes into account the diameter of the strings and the spacing is accordingly "progressive" so that the space between the strings is similar.
At the bridge it's usually center to center even spacing.

On the mandolin things are different because of the double coarses of strings. The spacing of the smaller strings is usually closer than the larger strings at the nut and the bridge. Part of the reason for that is the need to keep the unison strings from buzzing against one another.

The spacing at the tailpiece doesn't affect playability.

[Martin Jonas]

Hey Sunburst, thanks again, I never thought about it until I decided to try and make a five course tailpiece.
John -- you might be interested in having a quick look for comparison at these (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10179&item=3749935747&rd=1) 9-string and 12-string tailpieces that a guy in Germany has custom-made. Pretty good prices!

Martin