Ibanez Tail Piece Thoughts

[Braunny46]

This has been a fun little project. I bought an Ibanez AG75 for $125 on ebay. It arrived in a plastic tote - the kind you slide under your bed. I thought this is gonna be bad. But, it was wrapped six ways to Sunday in bubbles. And when I finally opened it all - it was not bad. Not as excellent as advertised but ok. Pretty dirty overall. It was detuned so I plugged it in and tuned it up and it sounded better than not bad. The thing was fully intonated with what looked like 10 year old strings, loaded with dust and smelling like smoke. I actually laughed and thought I'm gonna like this guitar - it's got miles on it.

In my quest to make it better, I put some Gotoh tuners on it, replaced the ceramic neck PU with a Kent Armstrong RagTop p90, fret dressed it, and added a Graphtech bridge. It's a fun size, great sounding, comfortable guitar. I need to add a bone nut. I'm also thinking of changing the tail piece - it looks heavier than needed, is pointy on the palm, and what else am I going to do in this never ending winter? Does anyone have thoughts on whether or not changing the tail piece on one of these Ibanez's would yeild any tonal benefits?

[deacon Mark]

I wore a different set of bike shorts this morning riding, but it was still the same engine. You won't gain a thing.

[Braunny46]

I wore a different set of bike shorts this morning riding, but it was still the same engine. You won't gain a thing.

Hah! Love it. Thx.

[pauln]

Yours is the original 2003-2007 version. Here's some history on this model... notice the changes in parts and materials from 2008 on. These old ones have the nice stuff!

The AG75 is an Artcore series hollow body electric guitar model introduced by Ibanez in 2002. It was originally produced in China, but production moved to Indonesia in 2016.

The AG75 features a mid-sized, full-hollow body design with an arched laminated maple top with ƒ holes and ivory multi-binding on maple back and sides with a single Venetian cutaway mated to a set-in mahogany neck with a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with ivory binding and pearl block position markers. Components include a pair of Ibanez Artcore humbucking pickups with chrome covers and individual volume and tone controls, a Tune-o-matic style bridge on a wooden base, a trapeze tailpiece, a plastic nut, a black pickguard, speed knobs, and Ibanez tuning machines.

Several changes have been made in the AG75's life cycle. For 2008 the VT50 tailpiece was replaced with the VT60. For 2010 the frets were changed from large to medium. For 2011 the speed knobs were replaced with Sure Grip III knobs. For 2015 the Artcore pickups were replaced with Classic Elite pickups and the pearl block inlays were switched to acrylic. For 2019 the maple body construction changed to linden, the mahogany neck was replaced with nyatoh, and the rosewood fretboard was replaced with laurel. For 2020 the fretboard was again changed, this time to walnut, and the bridge was replaced with the new Gibraltar Performer.

The AG75G is a similar model with gold hardware. The AF75 is a related model with a slightly larger body.

From 2022 the AG75 was offered only in Japan. It was completely discontinued after 2022.

More including specification history - AG75 | Ibanez Wiki | Fandom

Replacing the bridge top with wood made a nice difference on mine (using bigger strings improves intonation precision tolerance). It is a 2005.

[Rodney Gene]

I wore a different set of bike shorts this morning riding, but it was still the same engine. You won't gain a thing.

If the tailpiece changes the strings pitch angle, it can be a noticeable change.

Outside of the basically unmoveable string tension, length and pitch, the height of the break angle is going to affect stiffness/feel and impact the resonance of the guitars top. Some designs like the Ibanez GB tailpieces allow adjustment of the tailpiece break angle to compensate for players preference and guitar setup (string gauge etc) It's a great feature I wish more instruments had.

It's a common issue with Bigbsys and telecasters if the bigbsy was installed without a B5 tension bar. Using a cut / modified version. Still works, but the string tension is soft and the tone changes.

[Braunny46]

Yours is a beauty - I may have to put my pickguard back on like yours. Yes, the new bridge on mine mellowed the tone. I do like it better, but it seems to loose some overtones maybe. I may try wood also. But, the Graphtech is super easy by way of intonation. And...nice amp!

[Heybopper]

Stephen Holst does lovely wooden tailpieces for around $120 he has a few designs and I got mine in 10 days and I live in the UK. Ive changed tailpieces loads of times but most of them need new holes drilling so you have to ask if your prepared for that or not as for sound, I couldn't say I noticed a big difference.
They say brass has better sustain but ill let others share their thoughts on that.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Stephen Holst does lovely wooden tailpieces for around $120 he has a few designs and I got mine in 10 days and I live in the UK. Ive changed tailpieces loads of times but most of them need new holes drilling so you have to ask if your prepared for that or not as for sound, I couldn't say I noticed a big difference.

Steve made a gorgeous TP to replace the original metal one on my Ibanez AF207. Some may recall that the original broke apart where the TP meets the bushing for the hinge pin, probably from fatigue in the cheap pot metal they used. After 28 years, I’m not surprised it let go.

I think Steve’s TP definitely mellowed out the tone a little. My suspicion is that there are 3 reasons for this. His is a bit longer than the stock one and leaves less string between saddle and TP to resonate and add discordant high tones (however faint). I used to keep a leather strip woven among the strings there to damp this, and then I started using grommets.

The string angle over the bridge is a hair less acute. The slightly lower string pressure on the top may be a mechanical low pass filter reducing transfer of very high frequencies. Stiffness in a system is a high pass filter, so this hypothesis is scientifically sound.

Third, the wood overlay is large enough to damp very high frequencies bouncing off and passing through the metal in the TP, further adding a tiny bit to the thunkification effect.

I use heavy Bensons plus a 75 Chrome 7th on it, and it now sounds the best it ever has. There’s a wonderful thicker top CES quality to the amplified tone that got even a bit warmer with the Holst TP. FWIW, the pickup is a Benedetto B7 (which is equivalent in sound quality to a B6 but for a 7 string).

[KirkP]

If the tailpiece changes the strings pitch angle, it can be a noticeable change.

Outside of the basically unmoveable string tension, length and pitch, the height of the break angle is going to affect stiffness/feel and impact the resonance of the guitars top. Some designs like the Ibanez GB tailpieces allow adjustment of the tailpiece break angle to compensate for players preference and guitar setup (string gauge etc) It's a great feature I wish more instruments had.

It's a common issue with Bigbsys and telecasters if the bigbsy was installed without a B5 tension bar. Using a cut / modified version. Still works, but the string tension is soft and the tone changes.

Ibanez GB tailpieces don’t have a hinge. If a bridge is connected to a guitar with a single hinge, I don’t think it would be possible to make the break angle adjustable. (I’d love it if someone proved me wrong!)

[Rodney Gene]

Ibanez GB tailpieces don’t have a hinge. If a bridge is connected to a guitar with a single hinge, I don’t think it would be possible to make the break angle adjustable. (I’d love it if someone proved me wrong!)

It's a good point with a fixed tailpiece - in both cases, the break angle happens at the ball end, regardless of the angle of the tailpiece itself. Theoretically, if the OP replaced his tailpiece with an identical fit, there wouldn't be any real change. But he didn't specify anything - if he does replace it with a piece that shifts the break angle, more or less vertically, and depending by how much, the result can be a big improvement or a big disappointment. It can be a worthy pursuit if the guitar in question has issues. It's like top wrapping an LP, for some, too much tension is lost - for others it is often for the better. Some players do it for the sake of the headstock or to reduce the chance of breaking strings when they do not want to raise the stop bar. In my experience, they aren't the same in terms of feel and result, raising the bar or top wrapping despite the same idea. I like the reduced stiffness myself, though on a guitar by guitar basis myself. In the case of archtop tailpieces, they can vary by an inch.

[Rodney Gene]

Ibanez GB tailpieces don’t have a hinge. If a bridge is connected to a guitar with a single hinge, I don’t think it would be possible to make the break angle adjustable. (I’d love it if someone proved me wrong!)

Here you go KirkP - this is a Jimmy D'Aquisto designed tailpiece - hinged, plus significant break angle adjustment in ether direction. This is on my 80s Fender Elite. Jimmy designed several different types of adjustable tailpieces over the years. The break angle happens at the ball-end.

He was clearly an innovator, which of course is not news. The intent to design adjustable tailpieces for archtops was to support individual control over string tension, tone, and break angle. It allows for personal preference with string brand/gauge, action and feel to suit individual players. According to him, his focus was controlling the amount of downward pressure to the top in order to control how much air the top pushes out via string vibration, he says something of the nature in the doc, though he was referring to carving the bridges.

After posting my Robben Ford Ultra model, I pulled this out and thought it was a good example. Cheers