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I was in an other forum and one of the members was talking about the Zigzag TPs on ES175 being cheap aftermarket parts. He was also mentioning that the L7 style parallelogram TP is licensed to Gibson and that is why no one else makes them.
Ok.. I take MUCH of what I read in forums (and a good bit of what I write) with a grain of salt. That said, it is true that you dont see L7 style TPs available from anyone but gibson.
Long Finger TPs (ick), they are out there,
Zigzags are common.
ES125 TPs no problem.
No pointy parallelogram TPs.
Odd?
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04-02-2010 04:34 PM
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Heritage uses them.
Last edited by randyc; 04-02-2010 at 05:02 PM.
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You mean like the TP on this baby...?
1960 Gibson L-7C
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archtop.com lists the L-7 tailpiece as out-of-stock, which sounds like they at least once had them: ac accessories
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Exactly Squint.
well new es-175s supposedly have them so Gibson must still make them.
It is just odd that no one else makes a repro.
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04-02-2010, 08:15 PM #6TommyD Guest
IMHO, metal tailpieces suck. And they're ugly. Ebony, rosewood, or lignum vitae tailpieces (and for that matter, bridges too!) give the guitar a wonderful, rich sound. If I didn't already have a bunch of screw holes in the end of my guitar, I'd replace the metal junk with a wooden tailpiece.
Tommy/
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Thanks Tommy...
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I had one of these on my L4C, and I put one as a replacement on an ES-150DCN (like a thick 330, from the late '60's). Elegant!
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Thanks Tom. Is that a repro or a Gibson?
I have never heard of Gibson saying "no.. you cant copy our tailpieces" to a manufacturer. I have never heard of a Korean or Chinese mfg saying "ok.. we wont copy" I am just guessing there is no demand.
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04-03-2010, 11:57 AM #10TommyD GuestIt's a Gibson ES 165 made in their custom shop. A great guitar! Even the ends of the frets are covered with the white binding stuff.
Originally Posted by SamBooka
T/
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Dunno - I just found the pic on Google. Mine didn't have the matte finish on the part that attaches to the end pin though.
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The tailpiece, the tailpiece... that's what we want to know, not the guitar! Originally Posted by TommyD
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looks like archtop.com has them. I like the L-7C tailpiece. Looks very solid and functional. If they weren't quite so pricey I'd get one to dress up an epiphone emperor or broadway.
to my eye some of the other TP's have a little too much going on. some don't have enough. The L7C seems to strike the perfect balance.
there's also an ebay store listing 5 ply L7C pick guards for a very reasonable price.Last edited by ChiefMegaShear; 03-27-2017 at 10:08 PM.
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High-quality zig-zag TPs are available in nickel, chrome and gold from respected vendors, such as: Originally Posted by SamBooka
Chrome Fancy Trapeze Tailpiece | Allparts.com
* WD Music Products - TAILPIECE OLD 175 STYLE NICKEL
[ed. after reading pubylakeg's comment below] YIKES! This thread is seven years old! Inexpensive L-7 style TPs are now widely available from China. I see ebay auctions for 19 of them right now (many of which probably lead to the same vendor in China) in either chrome or gold.Last edited by Hammertone; 03-28-2017 at 02:57 AM.
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Well, the thread is 7 years old, and there certainly weren't so many triple parallelogram replicas available then.
Just for the record, the triple parallelogram tailpiece now fitted by Gibson is actually molded and assembled differently to both the older design and the type currently made as a copy accessory.
The new Gibson design has an extension of the forked trapeze section ( the part that looks like a U ) which the string retaining bar then fastens into. It's much better than the old design and should completely eliminate the breakages caused by string tension which were so common to the originals.
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Zombie thread... So here is an update. The original post was April 2 , 2010
I had just just just bought the guitar (March 27, the day before Mr Ellis passed). I didnt like the zigzag, always liked the Parallelogram better. But I wasnt going to spend 100$+ on a new TP just to look pretty. The Gibson ZZ is what it came with, quality part so why switch? Right?
Well I found out after research that the ZZs on 165 have a habit of failing. I did this research after my ZZ failed less than a year after I bought the guitar. I called Gibson and they said "No, on those guitars we use an aftermarket ZZ. Contact StewMac or AllParts and they will have the exact same TP. I even called our Canadian rep (Yorkville, great guys) but they couldnt help me get a replacement part (bought the guitar used, it was a 96 model). So I ordered the replacement ZZ from allparts. The quality wasnt great.. but seemed about on par with what came from Gibson.
So at that point I decided to take the ZZ and chuck it in the fuckit bucket. Spent another 20$ and 3 week wait for a chinese gold parallelogram. It wasnt a perfect fit, I would have had to redrill the strap button hole but since I never use the button I just let the ground wire get wedged in between the sides and the bridge.
6-7 years in with the cheap parallelogram and all is still golden (literally)
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I have bought a few high quality Chinese replicas that were close to exact. They do make them.
6 String Jazz Archtop Guitar Trapeze Tailpiece Bridge Exquisite Parts Chrome | eBay
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My '44 L7 came with a cheese ball tailpiece, as quite a few WWII era models did due to the scarcity of metals, and so I replaced it with a parallelogram one from Joe V. at archtop dot com and put the original in the case. Couldn't be happier. I expect you can find a better price, but I knew what I was getting.
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what is a cheese ball tailpiece? Tried to google it but got a bunch of cheeseball recipes ;-)
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Cheeseball is a diminutive term. Historically, during WWII, most metals went toward the war effort. Many guitars produce during that period were made from late '30's inventory of parts at Gibson and metals were scarce, so tailpieces were made with less metal, like cheeseballs are made with more cream cheese. That simple. My '44 L7 had late '30's components that Gibson had in inventory.
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