tail piece

[bill67]

Would a dot sound much different with a tail piece?

[Old Rocker 59]

Aren't they built with a tailpiece to begin with ?

[bill67]

Aren't they built with a tailpiece to begin with ?

I mean like and archtop tailpiece

[Jayyj]

I've a fair bit of experience of 335s with stop bars and with trapeze tailpieces, and my take on it is that I can feel the difference more than I can hear it. It's one of those things that if you were to convert a guitar you knew well from stop to trapeze or vice versa you might be able to identify something, but comparing say a 1964 stop bar 335 against a 1965 with a trap it's impossible to seperate the difference the tailpiece might make from other aspects of the guitars. I've converted from a stop bar to a Bigsby (admittedly not quite the same thing) on a few guitars, and couldn't honestly say I heard a difference.

 

Having the extra length of string behind the bridge seems to make string bends require a little more energy though.

[Bluemans335]

String vibrations transferred thru the wood to the PU's have a big impact on tone. With a stop bar tailpiece, vibrations are sent deep into the body, close to the PU's. With a hollowbody-style tailpiece, some vibrations are absorbed by the tailpiece itself, and some are directed to the far end of the body.

 

I think trapeze tailpieces look nice on guitars, including 335s and other guitars that don't necessarily need them. However, there will some loss of tone quality...but that can compensated for in other ways (how you EQ your amp, PU choice, magnets, pots, etc).

 

To add an aftermarket trapeze tailpiece to a 335, means you'll have two big holes where the stop bar was anchored, which detracts from the visual appeal.

[amx05462]

i put a trapeze tailpiece on mine . sounds the same but a slightly different feel for the better i think

[kidblast]

IME... you will loose sustain.

 

and what are ya gonna do with the holes for the stop bar?

[Alan189]

Having romoved the stopbar from my Sheraton II and replaced it with a frequensator, I did not notice any tonal differences. Although, it did sound louder acousticly.

 

I also found the strings easier to bend as well (using .10-.46 gauge).

 

I wouldn't worry about the stopbar holes left behind if you do change the tailpiece, you can always get a 'Custom Made' plate to cover these and on the plus side, if you wanted to the put the stopbar on, all you need to do is screw it back in place.

 

I don't have any experience with Bigsby's but I'd imagine that there would be not tonal differences when plugged into an amp and again maybe be slightly louder acousticly? Perhaps someone with more experience with Bigsby's can answer that though!