Need a Basic DIY Tailpiece for your 6-string CBG? No Problemo!

Recently I decided I was going to do my most "rustic" build yet. I wanted to use a pull-off neck from some thrift-shop score (a no-name Strat clone that I just bought for the neck and the pickups/wiring-harness, paying the princely sum of $30), but otherwise I was going to try to make a real "tool-shed special", even fabricating a bridge out of some kind of scrap wood or metal, and keeping the electronics simple (maybe just a pair of piezo discs and a single volume control). Bare-bones, bare-minimum but still with my "real 6-string guitar" methodology. I had it all more or less conceptualized in my brain, except I couldn't come up with an acceptable tailpiece/string-anchor. Argh!!!

Then it hit me...

What do you need for a tailpiece? Simple: a way to attach it to the body behind the bridge, and six holes or slots to hold the string-end "balls". Obviously the spacing matters (should be about 2" from high-E to low-E), but otherwise, you might have to get creative. Hey though, that's why we do this, right???

It's much easier for, as an example, a 3-string CBG, because you can literally use a small hinge to do the job:

I suppose if you wanted to grind off the little flared-out parts on the hinge, you MIGHT be able to get 2 side-by-side and have a two-piece tailpiece, but I've never tried this. I might at some point, just as proof-of-concept.

There are even hinges that will work for 4-string CBGs:

I even found at a home improvement store some small angle/corner plates that would've been great if they had 6 holes down the length of the part on each surface, but alas, they only had 5. So I was left without a viable hardware-store DIY option. I let it go for a few days, but then I stumbled across some bits and pieces in my parts bin and conceptualized a solution.

In one of my boxes which contained oddball tuning keys and miscellaneous, mismatched parts I never could bring myself to throw away for whatever reason, I found a pretty haggard, chipped-up, rusty, crusty top plate from an old import Strat-style tremolo bridge. Since I didn't think to take any pictures of the actual part prior to modification, here's a stock photo of a replacement part that's identical:

Now, what do you see there? I see 3 different groupings of " holes", as well as some larger holes that would work just peachy as mounting-screw holes. So I got to thinking to myself: "Self, I see not one but TWO possible tailpieces that could be made out of this hunk of metal, if you've got the stones..."

What I saw in my mind was as follows:

Holy crap! That was just crazy enough that it might work! If I cut it close enough to those imaginary lines, I'd have a ready-to-go tailpiece off the back part, using the saddle adjustment-screw holes as string retainers, and the three holes that originally were for the machine screws holding the plate to the trem-block would be perfect for mounting the piece to the top of the body (similar to the tailpiece used on Gibson doublenecks and such):

This is the aforementioned factory tailpiece used on doublenecks, etc. that the part was meant to emulate:

And with the other half, I could drill a couple of new mounting holes, and then that piece could either be mounted on the tail-end of the box edge, with the old holes that originally were the mounting and pivot points functioning as string retainers, or it could be mounted with some kind of spacers underneath and be strung-up similar to the other design (just flatter):

In my head, I kind of saw that one mounting kind of similarly to this 4-string tailpiece some CBG supply shops sell:

So that was what I saw in my head...but would it work??? Well...take a look! Here are the components after I got nuts with my Dremel cutting discs:

Told you it was rusty and crusty. You were warned.

Anyhow, the parts were separated with minimal headache, and while not my neatest Dremel work, I'll accept it seeing as how it was my first time using the cutting wheels on this kind of thing, and I was wasn't taking my time, so I slipped in a couple places. But again, I was planning on making parts from junk or cabinet/hobby hardware, so a little roughness is more than acceptable for the DIY aesthetic. 

As you can see from "tailpiece A", it should mount as planned without issue and work nicely:

The other piece also looks like it will work just fine, although I'll have to make sure I'm selective about what kind of box I use it on to make sure it accommodates the clearance of the string holes:

And there you have it! TWO tailpieces fashioned out of an old bridge part that was essentially trash. There's already quite a bit of satisfaction "upcycling" materials and components by building these instruments, but when you just luck-out and can do something a little extra crafty, it's even more rewarding.

It kind of makes me want to do something wacky like create the volume knob for this one out of a plastic bottlecap or something so it's REALLY scrap-built. At any rate, mission accomplished, and hopefully it'll give someone out there some ideas on how to think "outside the box" (pun) when trying to get mileage out of potential junk you have lying around in your parts bin or garage.

Go over to facebook.com/LaneCBGs and hit "like" to see what these DIY'd parts end up on.

H