Keeping Stop-Bar Tailpiece in Place

[DoctorQ9]

I hate having the stop-bar tailpiece moving around (or dropping off) when I go to change strings on my Gibson.  Is there anything that I can attach to it to prevent this?

[Dub-T-123]

There are tailpieces with grub screws to keep the tailpiece in place without string tension. TonePros is the main brand that comes to mind

 

Personally I just leave at least one string attached the whole time I do a string change 

[Sheepdog1969]

Learned about stop bar tail pieces not being "attached" on my Explorer years ago, as a teen. Nothing like a heavy chunk of metal falling off your guitar unexpectedly while changing strings! Like Dub said, simply never remove all of your strings at once while changing them unless you are prepared for it to "dislocate". Yes there are reasons that one may need to remove all of the strings of a guitar prior to replacing any of them, like when removing a pickup or when the rosewood/ebony fretboard needs oiling/cleaning, for example. However, my decades of experience restringing guitars has lead me to only change one string at a time, 99% of the time. No, I do not "cut/snip", (with wire cutters), old strings, let alone cutting/snipping all of them at once. I actually unwind each string to be replaced, one at a time, and then replace it, ( using a Luthier's knot)  

This, "one at a time" method does a couple of things. It keeps a stop bar tail piece from falling off. It maintains tension on the neck and body of your guitar during string changes, albeit 5 strings of tension versus 6, which minimizes the movement of the neck, headstock and body of the instrument, (the changing of the slight bow of your guitar neck, headstock, and body, which is normally maintained by the tension of it's strings whilst in tune), thus mitigating fret board cracking, lateral fret movement/shifting, finish cracking and other structural wear due to  said movement. Although you may not be able to see the "flex" differential between a strung and tuned guitar compared to when it is unstrung, the progressive damaging effects from these complete tension releases followed by tension increases, especially when torque (twist) is also applied to the neck, headstock, and guitar body by tightening each new string onto an unstrung guitar, especially when each new string is installed from lowest to highest, (or the reverse), can eventually damage your instrument. By changing one at a time, torque is mitigated by the tension from the other 5 strings on the guitar. This method also limits drastic changes to truss rod tension, mitigating "thread stripping" and/ or unintentional changes to desired truss rod tension. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Sheepdog1969
typo

[Karloff]

Leave one string on,  swap out 5. Then replace the 6th ...

Edited February 5, 2023 by Karloff

[saturn]

You can also use a little masking tape. It's enough to hold it, but not too sticky to leave residue.

[Pinch]

14 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said:

There are tailpieces with grub screws to keep the tailpiece in place without string tension. TonePros is the main brand that comes to mind

 

Personally I just leave at least one string attached the whole time I do a string change 

I change them one or two at a time. I leave the two middle ones when I condition the fretboard and change them last. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Pinch

[kidblast]

Everyone has a method!

I use the E strings, detune a bit and  set them on either side  of the nut, just tight enough to hold the bar in place but I allows access to the entire fret board.  

Change them last.

a low tack tape can work to (like blue painters tape.)

[Karloff]

10 minutes ago, kidblast said:

Everyone has a method!

I use the E strings, detune a bit and  set them on either side  of the nut, just tight enough to hold the bar in place but I allows access to the entire fret board.  

Change them last.

a low tack tape can work to (like blue painters tape.)

yep,  I've used painters tape as well ...

[Knightrider7]

A thin piece of rubber tubing placed underneath the stop bar works for me, just compress it with your fingers and place it underneath the stop bar, anything that holds it in place will do.

Edited April 19 by Knightrider7

[Knightrider7]

Many people have asked about stop bar height on other forums, I say just wind in the studs until you get a clearance between the back of the bridge so that the high "E" doesn't touch the back of the bridge and the tail stop bar is level with the top of the guitar "even on both sides" and your good to go.

[Sgt. Pepper]

On 2/5/2023 at 7:36 AM, Karloff said:

Leave one string on,  swap out 5. Then replace the 6th ...

Karloff enough with common sense. But yeah that’s one option. Blue painters tape is another. I only have acoustics so mine don’t do that.

Edited April 19 by Sgt. Pepper

[Karloff]

2 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Karloff enough with common sense. But yeah that’s one option. Blue painters tape is another. I only have acoustics so mine don’t do that.

lol, yep I've done that too ... lol

[Phil OKeefe]

On 2/5/2023 at 4:36 AM, Karloff said:

Leave one string on,  swap out 5. Then replace the 6th ...

That's basically what I do, except I usually do one side of the headstock, then remove and replace the strings on the other side. 

[Dub-T-123]

5 hours ago, Knightrider7 said:

A thin piece of rubber tubing placed underneath the stop bar works for me, just compress it with your fingers and place it underneath the stop bar, anything that holds it in place will do.

This will also melt the finish on a Gibson if left in place for a bit of time 

The nitro and rubber won’t react instantly, but I still wouldn’t recommend this method.