Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Alembic Basses & Guitars => Topic started by: David Houck on June 09, 2004, 07:41:55 AM

Title: Removing tailpiece
Post by: David Houck on June 09, 2004, 07:41:55 AM

I've removed and disassembled the bridge for polishing before, but I've not removed the tailpiece.  Polishing would be easier but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea since, in theory, removing and reinserting the screws would cause some wear and reduced tightness; and given the stresses that the tailpiece is under, it does need to hold tight.  Am I being overly concerned?  Do you guys remove the tailpiece for polishing?

Title: Removing tailpiece
Post by: effclef on June 09, 2004, 08:12:01 AM

I believe all the Alembic tailpieces go into threaded inserts in the wood and thus would cause no wear when removing and reinstalling them. In fact, I think someplace on the Alembic site it says the only screws going into bare wood are the strap buttons.
 
You can tell by taking one screw out - if it's a machine screw with fine threads, there are inserts below!
 
If your bass is very old, I am not sure if this will apply.
 
EffClef

Title: Removing tailpiece
Post by: slugbass on June 09, 2004, 08:16:59 AM

I've removed the tailpiece for polishing, and never had a problem.

Title: Removing tailpiece
Post by: dela217 on June 09, 2004, 08:47:28 AM

The older basses did not have the steel inserts under the tailpieces.  I have had the brass screws on the tailpieces break before on a couple of occasions.  Once while playing and the tailpiece came off, and on another bass, while it was in the case.  I guess the brass just corroded, the screws at the wood surface were kinda green.  I just got the broken off screws out the best way I could and replaced them with stainless steel screws.  So, if you are removing an older tailpiece, be careful, the screws could break leaving you with part of the screw stuck in a hole in the instrument.

Title: Removing tailpiece
Post by: David Houck on June 09, 2004, 09:01:11 AM

Thanks guys!  My basses are '84, '90, '97, and '00.  The one I'm working on at the moment is the '97 so it's probably no problem.  When I get around to the '84 I'll proceed with caution.

Title: Removing tailpiece
Post by: mica on June 09, 2004, 09:31:08 AM

The only wood screws are the strap holders, the tailpiece screws and the tuning key anchor screw*. The tailpiece is secured with at least 3 wood screws. Most Alembic tailpieces are coated with polyester, so it's not really possible to polish them without removing this coating first. When you custom order, you can request to have this coating omitted, like Bob did on his bass.  
 
*The new 1/4 sidejack is also secured with a wood screw inside the cavity.

Title: Removing tailpiece
Post by: effclef on June 09, 2004, 09:42:54 AM

Mica, thanks for setting the official record straight! I was going from memory, which has proven to be defective at times.  
 
;-)
 
EffClef
 
PS this sort of note would be great for an Alembic FAQ, if such a thing ever materializes.

Title: Removing tailpiece
Post by: David Houck on June 09, 2004, 10:35:40 AM

Thanks Mica!  Now that I think about it, I believe you have told us this before.  My memory just doesn't work very well .