Trapeze tailpiece bending upwards

[FredGramoso]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and the Jazz world, thanks for having me here.

I just modified my LP with a trapeze tailpiece. It's been only a week since the change and I noticed that the tailpiece is bending upwards, obviously because of the tension, and it worries me because I wanted to go from 10s to 11s.... Is it normal or have I bought a piece of junk?

Thanks for any suggestion.

[pingu]

That is very unusual , never ever seen that before ....
(Anyone seen that ?)

Does it keep tuning ok ?
(whilst don't think it's likely it will fail completely)
I would probably aim it in the recycling and just buy another decent TP

What make is that one , I'll make a note to avoid them !

[Hammertone]

What kind of guitar is that?
The problem and solution are both simple.
If the tailpiece is one of these (shown below), it's garbage. That's the problem.
The solution is simple - replace it with a trapeze tailpiece made by ABM in Germany. They are readily available in a few styles, and are high quality.

[SandChannel]

That makes me super uncomfortable.

[Freeman Keller]

Most trapeze tailpieces have a hinge like yours. That should allow it to move up or down so that the strings go in a straight line to the top of the bridge. I just posted this picture at another thread along with the calculations that ther is right at 40 pound of down force on the bridge with 12's (less with 10's or 11')



You said you put this on a Les Paul? I'm curious why.

[FredGramoso]

I bought it dirt cheap on ebay, not a good idea I guess, I'm usually not a cheap person when it comes to my instruments but this LP is my "cursed" one. Don't we all have that one you just can't get to sound, feel or play right? The only original things left on it are the wood and pots, and those need desperately to be upgraded... I bought it new a few years ago for its P90s. I'm really close to what I'm looking for soundwise, just a couple more tweeks, the feel and play are there with a trapeze, I can tell there is a big difference... to me, airy and "free", not sure if that makes sense but yeah! The sustain is still there but it's a different one, more focused, and the tone got a bit darker and that's what I wanted for the P90s. The stoptail was too bright to my taste, high frequencies would almost mute the mids.

I'm not going to give up on the TP yet, I just finished all the modifications I wanted on the guitar so you will understand the urge to play it haha
I did make some changes to the TP too, I had the string slots cut all the way to the top, inserted a metal wire at the bottom of the slots so strings won't slide down, in order to keep strings and TP on a straight line. Now I'm going to watch hot it reacts to/with the set of 11s.

The guitar is a Les Paul Special P-90 limited edition Honey Burst, didn't feel special to me for quite a while

Thanks for the replies people, I really do appreciate!