Special thanks to Rocket Rod for his help in fixing the problem. After a chat with Rod he showed me a method to solve the problem. I met Rod for the first time at the Melbourne Guitar Makers Festival May I say his guitar building and finish is some of the finest I have seen!
Some years ago I built my first Archtop from the Benedetto book and plan. The guitar turned out good however it has been a learning experience and I have had issues with the tailpiece anchor to the tail pin using the gut tailpiece fastener similar to what a viola uses. The first tailpiece let go in the workshop at the glue joint between the block on the bottom of the tailpiece. Lucky no one was out there otherwise there could have been catastrophic. Even the whistle noise heard when the tailpiece hurtled through the air I knew straight away what had happened out there.
At the time I asked for some help from the forum and here is the discussion:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3537&hilit=archtop+tailpiece
Basically from our discussion it is an obvious flaw in the design. I tried using Epoxy and also drilling holes inserting three brass pins which I thought would do the trick. All I can say is this was the third time it had let go in the workshop and it is a sound you don't forget. Gives you a real wake up to how much tension is created when a set of medium gauge strings are strung up to concert pitch.
I made a wider flatter block and epoxied it to the bottom of the tailpiece and this held up for a few months but eventually it let go as well. No flying tailpieces this time thank goodness.
I then sanded off the block which left a tailpiece 7 mm thick and I filled the small holes with some ebony dust and black super glue. Also I cut a channel 2 mm wide by 4 mm deep to allow the newly made stainless steel bracket to attach to the tailpiece.
Here are pictures of the bracket made from 2 mm stainless steel
Finally it is now a guitar and not a weapon.
Thanks for looking hope you enjoyed the journey.
Cheers Alan
