MIMF

Does anyone have a bead on a decent strap hinge for archtop tailpiece. I've been looking all over the place and haven't located one that really turns me on. I've used good 'ol Stanley off the shelf before...but ...nahhhh... not going there again. Any help would be great...thanks!!

Chris,
I wondered about this for a long time. I went to the hardware stores and looked at a LOT of hinges. I remember reading a post from Bill Moll in which he said his tailpieces started with a hardware store hinge. In the end, I fabricated mind from thick brass stock from the hardware store. No hinge. I just heated my strap to anneal it where I would bend it, then I bent it where I wanted it bent (thus work-hardening the bend) and I dovetailed and soldered on the string retainer part. All of this was covered with wood. I went the extra mile and sent it out to have the string contact area flash plated with copper, then silver, then gold. This made is cosmetically match the tuners, pickup cover, etc.

Personally, I don't think a hinge is necessary. Bend your tailpiece strap to the approximate angle, then string it up and allow the strings to pull the near-perfect bend into absolute perfection.

...but you might have different goals than I had.

Patrick

Patrick...very nice!! How thick is that brass stock??? 1"wide??

K and S has brass strips in most hobby shops. Not the cheapest way to buy it but very handy.

I don't see a great advantage of having a hinge in a tailpiece. There are a lot of non hinge designs that are quite successful (Super 400, L5 to name two). Hinges can be a problem if they deteriorate and start falling apart, and I can relate from personal experience in this regard. It's pretty easy to bend a piece of brass to fit over the edge of the guitar and hold the strings, and quite an efficient design.

If you really want a hinge to incorporate into a tailpiece look at hinge manufacturers, specialty and industrial hardware suppliers (boats, etc.). Probably some stainless items to choose from.

Chris, Sorry I haven't been back for a couple of days. The brass probably started out about .10" thick and I doubt it needed to be that thick. It's just what I found at the hardware store. After filing, working, sanding, etc, it's probably a bit thinner in places. Cosmetically, I wanted my tailpiece to look like wood, but I wanted to use it to ground my strings to the output jack, which is located in the tail pin position. You can just see it in the shadow in one of my photos.

One thing I read on line about brass working is actually sort of counter-intuitive. It can only be hardened by working it. It's fairly soft, so it's tempting to just bend and hammer on it, but that hardens it and makes the bend brittle. I saw several pictures of failed bends that cracked for this reason. I heated my strap along the bend line with a plumber's torch and then quenched it in water. The quenching had little or no effect on its hardness (that's the counter-intuitive part) but it allowed me to get back to work much more quickly. I clamped it in a metal vise and hammered it over the the desired angle. That had the effect of re-hardening the bend.

Heating and quenching copper and copper alloys is the standard procedure to anneal them. Ideally you get them to a dull red and keep them there in a kiln for a while.

Thanks for your input everyone...I'm going to give the brass flat bar a go...

I've taken a little twist off the beaten path...I think....but same general idea. I used my pin router to create a ebony negative housing for an inexpensive import tailpiece. I just epoxied it in there. I have no experience or theory to back up this fear...but a similar style wood only tailpiece scares me in terms of strength. Anyway...making the jig for this was a little time consuming...because you're thinking inside out and backwards/upside down..which is always fun...but it's all good