1906 Gibson A tailpiece problem/information wanted

[mikejkeen]

I'm renovating a 1906 Gibson A4. As you know these are quite different from the later teen Gibson A's

The mandolin is now back in one piece and I've fitted medium strings. I bent the standard Gibson tailpiece up so when fitted there was about 1/4 inch clearance between the soundboard and the front of the tailpiece. When the strings are brought up to full tension the front of the tailpiece is pulled down and comes into contact with the soundboard.


Would someone who has worked, owned or has experience of the early Gibsons tell me if they found this happened with their instrument?. Should felt or something be placed under the tailpiece to protect the French polish/wood.


Have also posted this on the Frets website

Many thanks



Mike

[sunburst]

The strings will deflect the tailpiece so that there is a straight "pull" from the edge of the mandolin (where the tailpiece is) to the top of the bridge regardless of how you may try to bend the tailpiece. If it touches the top there is not much you can do about it other than raise the bridge, and since that controls action height your severely limited in using that as a solution. It's probably a good idea to pad the top to avoid undue finish wear.

[Paul Hostetter]

I find the tpc resting on the top affects the sound. As John says, the string pull will make a straight line out anything associated with the line from the edge of the top to the top of the bridge.

One thing you can do is shim the tailpiece up and eighth of an inch or so. It might help because it relocates one of the two points on that critical line. The drawbacks include having to relocate the endpin, all the screws holding the tailpieve on, and the concomitant footprint the tailpiece originally had.

Echoing John again, the other thing you can do, which I've done a number of times and much prefer, is reset the neck angle so you can have a taller bridge. Those tops were rather over-engineered anyway. I've done resets that resulted in a bridge that was closer to "modern" specs, and saw no ill effects. And it got the tpc off the top completely. One thing to bear in mind with those necks is that they are made of Spanish cedar, not mahogany, so they're somewhat more fragile than later necks.

[mikejkeen]

Paul and John.

Thanks for your excellent replies. It helps when people have encountered the same problem. Saves "reinventing the wheel".

I've only just refretted it so wouldn't like to touch the neck again. I will try the shimming option as relocating the tailpin is fairly easy (dowel and redrill/reamer). I was thinking of putting a piece of wood about 1/8 deep x 1/4 inch wide between the back of the tailpiece and the top of the sound board. As it would be on top of the tail block it shouldn'y change the sound.

Will let you know how I get on.

The neck on this mando is mahogany, not the earlier hollow neck.

Cheers Mike

Interstingly it's obvious that prior to me getting the mando the tailpiece touched. It's a particularly good sounding instrument and has been played a lot in the past.

[mrmando]

Are we talking about the original pineapple tailpiece here? You mention a "standard Gibson tailpiece," which wouldn't be original to a 1906 instrument.

I'm wondering whether a shorter tailpiece, like a modern Weber cast job, or a vintage Waverly, would alleviate the problem.