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Today I looked at my tailpiece and I'm very scared about my observation. At the tail of the tailpice where its screws are located and the metal plate has the angle to the top of the guitar body. In this area are some serious cracks in the metal. the cracks are very deep and I am very upset, because I use 12. gauge which isen't really heavy and nevertheless the tailpiece seems to be unable to cope with the string gauge.
What should I do? I like the guitar, but I am not willing to pay for an original replacement tailpiece, if the quality is that poor.
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05-25-2014 06:06 AM
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Where did you buy it? That should be replaced at the dealer or Ibanez (Hoshino) in your country will have a central distribution centre where they handle all issues. Find their Email location and send them a picture of the problem. They should know about it, and they very likely do. They deal with faulty materials issues and they're usually really good about replacing parts, and in many cases it's easier for them to replace the entire instrument. You may wind up sending them the guitar which is why a dealer would be easier.
If you might, could you take a picture and post it on this thread so others might be aware and know what to look for in theirs?
Thanks and good luck
David
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Thank you for your quick response! I bought the guitar used, so I can not contact the dealer, but I will contact Ibanez since the guitar isn't that old and was just released 2 or 3 years back than. I will make some pictures!
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here are some pic's, butz it turns out to be very difficult, since the metal is shiny and reflects every light. on the picture it's not possible to see clearly how damaged this area is.
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You are not the first one experiencing problem with breaking tailpiece, at least you see it before it breaks (see threads on exploding tailpiece). It is not something typically Ibanez as some other Asian brands also got plagued with it.
Maybe a specific batch of metal more brittle that made its way to the Chinese plant making these TP who knows...
From Ibanez I could find that http://www.ibanez.de/prd/2tp12a0011.html
A bit expensive however
Another cheap option is to go on Ebay and if you don't mind another style of TP you will easily find a Chinese diamond trapeze ES 175 style in both gold or silver; I got 2 of these for my Epis and to be honest so far they are holding quite well: I am using 13-56.Last edited by vinlander; 05-25-2014 at 07:54 AM.
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Thank you vinlander!
I've seen this tailpiece, but it's around 90€ and if it's made of the same material, than it's not worth the price. On the other hand my tailpiece might as well been a bad exception.
Most of the other TP have 3 screw mount holes, where else the ibanez TP's have 4.
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WHOA! I can see the damage. Or course. Man, take the tension off your guitar right away! That's headed for a failure and pulling that much metal mass with that much tension will not be good for anything it hits, your guitar's top included.
Yes, see what the Hoshino people can do for you. This is just bad material. Period.
If you really love the instrument, which there's a lot to love, consider the opportunity to upgrade. But that aside, yeah they don't go through a metallurgical analysis of all their contractor's materials. There are so many factories cutting corners here and they're trying to underprice and get the bid for Hoshino. Materials for a critical tension point is an expensive corner to do right, that is a corner that gets cut. Do keep in mind that even if you do get a replacement part, it will be made of the same design and materials as the one you have (unlike D'Angelico who addressed their problem by having better tailpieces made for them) so you'll always be playing with a flawed design.
It's just something to keep in mind.
David
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Originally Posted by TruthHertz
I did take of the tension. Thank you for your advice. I already wrote the guys from the German distributor, or shall I contact the people in Japan directly?
About upgrading the guitar, I am unsure, I'll wait until I know my options.
Hans
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Wow - I need to check out my AFJ91, which has the same tailpiece, but I'm away from it until Wednesday. I know the chances of it experiencing the same problem in this narrow time window are highly unlikely, but it still makes me uncomfortable knowing I can't check it out immediately.
The tailpiece and scratch-plate are two of the very few things I am less than perfectly happy with on this guitar and I have been considering changing them for purely aesthetic reasons - now I have a more practical reason.
(There are also days when I feel the Sunset Red is just too much - despite the fact that I love the way it plays, perhaps I should just upgrade to something else !)
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Is this the one that was on ebay several weeks ago?
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No! I had it now for quit some time. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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I took the TP off, to get a better view of the damage. Here are some close ups!
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I also like the way it feels, though I have the afj81, which is why I changed the PU. The TP is definitly not the nicest one, but I still like, that it is a wooden TP. Originally Posted by newsense
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looks pretty bad, fortunate you took action because that could have been more disastrous.
Personally I would not put back 90 euros on such a flimsy TP; when the guitar is
Provided you don't mind doing a bit of drilling and filling the old holes (toothpick and some wax pen), it is so easy to replace with a 3 holes 3rd party part, some I see very often on guitars (I had one of my Joe Pass at some point):
Cast Open Harp Tailpiece Gold- for Full Sized Jazz Guitars
I am sure you can find a similar one in Germany or even better maybe a Hofner Jazzica TP if you don't mind spending a bit more; otherwise like someone said the d'Angelico seems made of better quality
In any case that you keep the guitar or not it needs to be addressed and can't stay in that situation.
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Just searched the Ibanez Parts web-site - whilst the replacement tailpiece for the AFJ81 is the wooden one, the AFJ91 replacement is listed as the ubiquitous metal lyre tail-piece:
Perhaps Hoshino already decided that the wooden model is too risky ?
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I have the same thoughts on the TP, but you are right, how ever I'm going to decide, whether I keep it or not, I have to do something about it. Originally Posted by vinlander
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Well this is really interesting! I am really curious about the response from the distributor. Thank you for your research. Originally Posted by newsense
Just searched the Ibanez Parts web-site - whilst the replacement tailpiece for the AFJ81 is the wooden one, the AFJ91 replacement is listed as the ubiquitous metal lyre tail-piece:
Perhaps Hoshino already decided that the wooden model is too risky ?
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I think the George Benson LGB30 has the 4 hole mount. Originally Posted by hans halmackenreuter
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I see, but I assume that its the same TP, just with different wood cover, so there is no advantage if you ask me.
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The AFJ81 and AFJ91 have the have the same VT04 tailpiece. The AFJ95 and AFK95 have the metal trapeze tailpiece. The LGB30 has a different wooden tailpiece still listed as a VT04 but different part number and shaped similar to the LGB200. I think this one would fit a VT60. Originally Posted by hans halmackenreuter
Last edited by TonyB56; 05-25-2014 at 02:59 PM.
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I don't know what went wrong the 3rd pic. If you bought the guitar used you can't be sure what the tailpiece was subjected to by the previous owner, string guage, alt tuning etc, it could be purely user abuse.
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Tony - I agree that stock the AFJ81 and AFJ91 have the same TP, I know because I own a AFJ91 in Sunset Red, but if I look for the replacement TP at Ibanez.com | Parts it shows a trapeze type for the 91, but the wooden one for the 81.
If I search for the LGB30 tailpiece I also get the view you posted - "Sorry, the picture is not available Now". The question is, is the LGB30 TP available ? If so, I may get one.
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Thank you Tony advicing me different TP. I also did my homework and looked for the different options, but that the ibanez site is suggesting 2 different replacement TP for the afj81 and afj91 is strange to me. And I would like to have an explanation for this. But as I already told, I am waiting for an response, maybe this could enlighten this riddle. Originally Posted by TonyB56
The guitar was as new when I bought it. I bought it from a guy who was too busy for playing the instrument. The guitar was in very good condition. It had the same original 11. flats on and the TP was fine, since I inspected the whole guitar. 6 or 7 month later - after I bought it, I detected this damage.
That is why I am in no rush to buy a replacement TP blind.
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I think we're looking at different sites, I think that one is the American site, on the UK site I can't even see an AFJ91 tailpiece listed. I actually have an LGB30 I've had it for over 7 months, so far the tailpiece is fine
I currently have 5 Ibanez archtops and so far I've had no problems with any of the tailpieces they are all strung with TI 13- 53's. It looks like Hans has been unlucky and got a faulty one.
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https://cs.hoshinogakki.co.jp/pcw.nsf#HGCTopLabel
here is a link which I reached using the UK site of ibanez. The TP is not listed as AFJ91 TP, but as a golden replacement for the AKJ 95 and AFJ85, which also happens to be advertised as a new replacement for the AFJ91.
The point is, that I want to know why there is a different TP replacement advertised. To be honest, I like the new replacement TP, although it just has 3 mount holes.
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