badbluesplayer Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I swear by aluminum tailpieces. I have a Faber on my 339 and Tonepros' on my LP and SG. They're pricey. Anybody else have any experience with them? They just sound different to me. I don't know how to describe it. A little more lively maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 What is this aluminum you speak of? A strange and powerful substance? Or is it like aluminium? ;) Edit: oh yeah, on a serious note, got no issues with it but he great preference either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Ive got a tone pro's tuneomatic bridge on my MK Patroit and I quite like it. I was contemplating trying out some brass and nylon saddles on the G B E strings. I actually prefer string through bodies compared to those with stop bars because I find them more comfortable for my hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I've been contemplating getting one for my SG and my Explorer, On my SG my concern is that the guitar will become unbalanced and neck dive since the stock tail pieces are so heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Yeah, I switched to a Faber aluminum tailpiece on my Les Paul. There's an old thread somewhere. I even did sound clips of before and after. I also swapped the studs for Callaham ABR1 conversions and put on a Tone Pros ABR1 bridge. I think it made a difference. It rings more and is less dark sounding to my ears than the stock Nashville setup. I have the studs to do the conversion on my SGs but my wallet hasn't gotten around to buying the rest of the parts yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Yeah, I switched to a Faber aluminum tailpiece on my Les Paul. There's an old thread somewhere. I even did sound clips of before and after. I also swapped the studs for Callaham ABR1 conversions and put on a Tone Pros ABR1 bridge. I think it made a difference. It rings more and is less dark sounding to my ears than the stock Nashville setup. I have the studs to do the conversion on my SGs but my wallet hasn't gotten around to buying the rest of the parts yet! Ive never experimented with different studs. How much do they affect the sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 No idea. I'm guessing regular stop-bars are cast from Zamak which is also not magnetically attractive so without taking them all off in order to weigh them I can't tell. AFAIK Zamak has a mass just over twice that of aluminum aluminium. What do yours weigh as a guideline, BBP? P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Ive never experimented with different studs. How much do they affect the sound? The biggest thing I think is allowing one to use the ABR instead of Nashville bridge. It too has less mass and the strings seem to vibrate more freely. AFAIK Zamak has a mass just over twice that of aluminum aluminium. What do yours weigh as a guideline, BBP? Hmmmmm... wish I had weighed them. Maybe next string change as I still have the original parts. I'd say though the aluminum was definitely less than half the weight of the stock tailpiece - maybe more like a third. Perhaps the chrome plating adds even more weight to the stock one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I found that old thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 And here's a link to the pics of the bridge replacement I did - removing the Nashville bridge and studs, inserting the Callaham conversion studs and installing the Tone Pros AVR-II. http://s282.photobucket.com/user/morettaj/slideshow/Bridge%20Replacement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I would guess a third of the weight, some websites say 25% of weight and the Faber website says 1/3 "less" but that's got to be an error. I just changed strings on my SG and the TP is heavy as heck compared to the one in my R8 which I had just done the same the week before. What I wnder is if all of these aluminimum tailpieces come from the same place and simply priced differently is different websites, like Gotoh, Faber and Philadelphia Luthier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I would guess a third of the weight, some websites say 25% of weight and the Faber website says 1/3 "less" but that's got to be an error... I had a quick look earlier and it would seem to be that Aluminium has a mass of aroung 2.7gm3 and Zamak varies between 6.6 and 6.8gm3 depending on chemical make-up. In the same way that AlNiCo has varying types (2 - 5 depending on the percentages of the metals used) Zamak (Zinc, Aluminium, Magnesium Copper) varies likewise having types 2, 3, 5 and 7 in common use and 4 used exclusively in Asia. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 Yeah - The aluminum ones are probably 1/3 the weight of the steel alloy ones. I like the Faber/Gotoh ones with the "ToneLock" thing. The TonePros ones don't lock down quite as solidly as the Faber/Gogoh ones but the TonePros ones allow you to set the height different at each end of the stopbar, where the Gotoh one has to be set level at one of three fixed heights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellen Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Aluminium all the way, and brass saddles as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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