Gibson es275 tailpiece: difficult restringing

[Harry1977]

Hi there. I may sound as the dummiest guy on Earth, but it's been a nightmare restringing my Gibson es 275 . I couldnt secure strings in the Tailpiece , could not find how while I was trying  to tune , so I had to pull the  string in tension while trying to place it in the headstock. I'm pretty sure I missed something. I searched the web, tutorials..I found nothing..Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

[jdgm]

Yes it takes awhile to work out a good system for restringing with a trapeze tailpiece. 

You need something to hold the ball end in the tailpiece slot, a bit of cloth or something/anything that won't scratch.

Myself - I put the low and high E strings on 1st and set the bridge position, tighten the strings so it won't move then proceed from there.

Good luck!  Here are some tips anyway -

 

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?50709-Trapeze-tailpieces-unsecured-bridges-and-restringing

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/changing-strings-trapeze-tailpiece.1051056/

 

[Harry1977]

Thanks! I realized that was the way after several tryings , .. Btw , I restring 1 by 1 each time, never get all the strings out ..but definitely the cloth helps and so your reply! I put some strings b4 realizing the cloth issue...hope strings didn't harm too much the nice marple finish ..thanks again!

[Twang Gang]

I think you saw some other replies about this on the Custom forum where the original question was about if the ball ends should be facing up, or sideways in the tailpiece.  So I think you got all the answers you need (now just remember them until the next string change 😁).  

I will add one more tip as to the bridge moving if you take all the strings off at the same time.  It is critical to get the bridge in the correct location or the intonation will be off.  So we restring one string at a time to avoid the bridge moving.  But once in awhile it's nice to take all 6 strings off to clean the guitar thoroughly.  So if you want to do that just make a few little marks with a pencil so you can get the bridge back in it's proper location.  Then with the bridge removed, put a couple little strips of two sided tape on the bridge.  Press it down to it's proper location and the next time you take the strings off the bridge won't move.  Yes the tape might mar the finish on the guitar top over the years, but no one will ever see it unless the bridge is removed.

[Larsongs]

One String at a time, after attaching new String to tail hold it in place on fretboard with a Capo then tighten Tuner.. Easy, works great, no intonation. Problems..

Same technique for Guitars with Bigsby's..

Edited April 8, 2020 by Larsongs

[Harry1977]

Thanks so much! And hey, another question, ...I used a set of 0.12 -0.52 but 5th was broken, now, what happens if I replace that 5th string ( 0.42) for a 0.37 ( (from another set 0.12- 0.50) having the 4th in 0.32 and the 6th in 0.52? It is too much tension?    It would affect to the neck or would damage the guitar? Thanks again , and ,please, forgive any inconvenience.

[jdgm]

10 hours ago, Harry1977 said:

Thanks so much! And hey, another question, ...I used a set of 0.12 -0.52 but 5th was broken, now, what happens if I replace that 5th string ( 0.42) for a 0.37 ( (from another set 0.12- 0.50) having the 4th in 0.32 and the 6th in 0.52? It is too much tension?    It would affect to the neck or would damage the guitar? Thanks again , and ,please, forgive any inconvenience.

 

No it will be fine though you will notice the difference between that and the 6th more, obviously...

[Larsongs]

12 hours ago, Harry1977 said:

Thanks so much! And hey, another question, ...I used a set of 0.12 -0.52 but 5th was broken, now, what happens if I replace that 5th string ( 0.42) for a 0.37 ( (from another set 0.12- 0.50) having the 4th in 0.32 and the 6th in 0.52? It is too much tension?    It would affect to the neck or would damage the guitar? Thanks again , and ,please, forgive any inconvenience.

 What are you trying to accomplish by doing this?