Rosewood tailpiece

[Sarah93003]

Being Father's Day and all I had to devote my time in other directions today which for the most part was walking around acre after acre of vintage cars at the Channel Islands Father's Day Vintage Car Show. Am I a sport or what! I even took some pictures, especially of a 1958 Lincoln Continental convertible that was the most beautiful creamy soft yellow I've ever seen. I think I shall paint a guitar that color!

Anyway, after I got home and dinner was all taken care of I was able to cut into a Rosewood block that I bought for the purpose of making Rosewood tailpieces. I'm going to make the plain ones as well as the ones bonded to alluminum angle.

Here's the first step.

[Sarah93003]

Drill Day!

I made a simple little squaring fixture so that I can drill the four different sized holes. I used a couple of pieces of left over Rosewood onto a plywood base.



First step is to drill the 3/32" holes. These are the six holes that the strings pass through.



Second step is to drill the 5/32" holes. These three holes will attach the tailpiece to the body of the guitar.



Third step is to drill the 5/16" hole just deep enough to countersink the head of the screw.



Fourth step is to drill the 7/32" holes. These are the holes that the ball end of the strings will seat into.



And now we have the piece with all of the holes drilled. View from the front.



...and view from the back.



Tomorrow evening I will sand the edges that require it and stain it dark to match the original. I was surprised how light Rosewood is after it's cut. The final step will be to bond it to a piece of aluminum angle.

[panther]

Sarah;
At the rate we are going, we will have a complete supply of Mosrite parts available in no time. I like the fixture ideas, they make mass producing really a lot easier.
Do you get the feeling that Semie is right behind you urging you on ? I can imagine he did things in a very similar fashion.
Dan

[panther]

By any chance are is one of those little jewels for me ?
Dan

[Sarah93003]

Sarah;
At the rate we are going, we will have a complete supply of Mosrite parts available in no time. I like the fixture ideas, they make mass producing really a lot easier.
Do you get the feeling that Semie is right behind you urging you on ? I can imagine he did things in a very similar fashion.
Dan

That is exactly what I'd like to do. Rather than see guitars being dismantled to turn a profit on organ donation I would like to offer an alternative to people so they can restore their guitar. I also think it is very important that people understand that they are reproduction parts, not original Mosrite parts.

Yes, I try to imagine how Semie would have made these things. I really enjoy doing that.

"By any chance are is one of those little jewels for me ?" Why, yes it is.

[Veenture]

Sarah;
Do you get the feeling that Semie is right behind you urging you on ?

...including many of us right here on the forum.
With the combined skills and knowledge of folks here, I'm sure we could start a guitar building club!
(I'll do the recommendation bit)

[Sarah93003]

Sarah;
Do you get the feeling that Semie is right behind you urging you on ?

...including many of us right here on the forum.
With the combined skills and knowledge of folks here, I'm sure we could start a guitar building club!
(I'll do the recommendation bit)

hmm, pretty cool idea!

[dubtrub]

Great projects you are covering Sarah.

Regarding the tail stop, I believe the material is Walnut not Rosewood and rather than stain all you have to do is oil it with linseed oil to get it dark. Regardless of material, you're doing a great job and I really appreciate you chronicling it here on the forum.

[olrocknroller]

Tricky job. For production, I would also suggest templates that help you position the holes without having to measure each time... They could have a rim on them that automatically "centers" the template on the piece. You will also find that sanding dramatically darkens the rosewood, then a light oil finish will highlight the colors in the wood.

[Sarah93003]

Great projects you are covering Sarah.

.......I believe the material is Walnut not Rosewood......

oops! I should know better! I just assumend it was Rosewood.