Guild Harp Tail Piece Angle Question

[motopsyche]

Here's a question about Guild's non-hinged harp tail piece.

I received my CA-100 back after having some work done. I'd noticed before sending it off that the harp tail piece was decidedly not in a straight line with the pull of the strings. That is, the angle of the tail piece was such that the part that holds the string ends was closer to the body than it should be. This means that it is being pulled up (away from the guitar) when the strings are at tension, putting a slight upward curve in the tail piece. This is in contrast to Guild's hinged tail pieces that are pulled by the strings in a perfectly straight line from the bridge to the hinged part at the end of the body. I'm thinking I should bend the non-hinged harp tail piece on my CA-100 up slightly to where it is in alignment with the pull of the strings. On the other hand, having it bent down toward the body means there is more downward pressure on the strings after they pass over the bridge to connect to the tail piece. This might be a good thing. Or is it?

What's the opinion of the panel? Bend the tail piece to align with the string pull or retain the downward pressure behind the bridge? The guitar is on the table with strings off, so now is the time for all good bending.

Many thanks, all.

 

[walrus]

Hi moto - I just took a close look at my harp tailpiece on my X-50, it is straight as an arrow. To be honest, I don't know if its *supposed* to be, but it certainly looks correct that way.

walrus

 

[AlohaJoe]

My 150 is straight too. Seems logical that that's the correct angle.

 

[john_kidder]

On my '68 A150, it's dead in line. The '54 X400 is a little shallower, i.e., tailpiece slightly lower that natural string line, but it's been modded and the tailpiece may not be original.

If it plays to your satisfaction, you might just leave it. Careful slow slow bending should be possible, though - I'd be chary about about applying heat, but who knows.

 

[motopsyche]

Great guidance from my esteemed Guild colleagues. I managed to carefully bend the tail piece until it was right in line with the string path. I like it much better pulling this way. And no more funky curvature of the tail. Not that curvy tails are necessarily a problem. Thanks all!

 

[yettoblaster]

So, did you notice any change in the acoustic volume or tone?

The reason I ask is because I once had a Heritage Eagle that I put big TI "Be-Bop" strings on and it increased the volume and tone. It had a hinged tailpiece.

Old L-5's used to have an adjustment, and newer Gibson Citations (and some other models) have a "fingers" gold tailpiece that is adjustable on each string for downpressure.

Plus, I once had an old Gibson 12 string with a tailpiece and it was very sensitive to string gauge: too heavy and it really seemed to choke OFF more volume and tone.

So I figure there might be a resonant "sweet spot" for a given string gauge and tailpiece downpressure - on an archtop guitar?
I would think more downpressure would equal more volume and tone. But it might be hard to research correctly without a lab and an oscilloscope.