Aluminum Tailpieces

[Armitage]

I was reading that the Gibson Custom Shop Aluminum Tailpiece, is made by Kluson, and is identical to the Kluson USA Made Aluminum Tailpiece, that is a quarter or less of the price (I'm not saying it's true, just that I have read that). And it just got me thinking, has anyone here actually changed out a stock tailpiece for aluminum and noticed a difference (just by changing the tailpiece, no other parts)? They're actually cheap at around $25.

[murkat]

They could be atm.... they use to be made as well as other parts up at the Elgin machine shop and elsewhere.

But, Henry burns way too many vendor bridges, does not pay his bills. (Schaller to Gotoh comes to mind on the LPC's around 2008ish)

There was a time that vendor parts would come in COD. No pay, no parts.

[Jeff R]

I just put one of the Gotoh "lightweight" tailpieces on the '76 Deluxe I've been restoring. I assume it's aluminum, but I can surely say it's definitely the lightest weight tailpiece I've ever held haha. I don't know what tonal differences it made because the guitar came to me as a husk so no reference point, but the guitar sounds and resonates incredibly good so my first assumption is that the lighter tailpiece surely doesn't hurt anything.

[Lockbody]

I have one on my 61RI SG with 59 Classics and I do like the bit of "airy-ness" it added to the tone. Not a dramatic difference to be sure, but still noticeable.

I didn't like it as much on my SG Std with stock 498/490 pickups. I guess they're better suited for a more vintage vibe.

[spanky]

Not a Gibson style tailpiece but I do have an aluminum ashtray bridge for one of my tele builds and like the way the guitar sounds. I got it from Liquid metal Guitars when they were selling their custom made bridges independent of their guitars. Although I would need to play the same guitar with a Fender bridge to give a true comparison.

[HSB0531]

Does anyone make an alumni bridge for bass?

[HSB0531]

On September 6, 2016 at 8:35 AM, gtrdaddy said:

Hipshot makes them.

Cool, thanks 

Just checked out the site.

Nice stuff, and USA made.