Is my Trapeze tailpiece correct, because it looks crooked to me. I tried a mock build and had a few problems. The high e was too close to the edge. The string height was about 1/4 inch at the 22nd fret. I could not keep either string in the saddles. I think it’s because of the trapeze. I’m attaching some pictures...
In the 1st pic, it is hard to see, but the left post is pointed down and to the right. The 2nd pic shows how twisted the posts are. The 3rd, though nhard to see, shows how close high e is to the end of the fret board.
I have played around with these for bass... Can you bend the rods into the position you want? I have done that with these. The trick is not to be d so much that you weaken the metal, but I found it pretty forgiving.
One side is often a little shorter than the other. You can adjust with the nuts. Once the guitar is strung, the tension will keep the but from loosening.
I have a similar tailpiece for the RC12 I'm just starting on. Mine's straight, but my problem is the fixing holes; if I position it with the strap-button hole in the centre (which, surely it has to be), the top two screw holes are right on the edge of the body top and therefore unusable. If I drop it enough to give the top two screw holes enough wood to bite into, the strap button hole is perilously close the bottom edge. The earlier (I presume) pattern has the three holes in a straight line, which would work perfectly. I can't see a workaround other than buying a tailpiece that actually fits the guitar.
Could you live with leaving two holes empty, fixing the strap button hole central and drilling two more in-line holes for the small fixing screws? Alternatively, live with the bigger bottom hole empty and drill another hole centrally for a strap button screw.
Thanks for the response - I've thought of that, but the issue is that the fixing plate of the tailpiece is taller than the body depth, so that if I line up the bottom of the plate with the bottom edge of the body it sits too high, and if I get it to sit properly the plate protrudes beyond the edge of the body. I can see a solution, which is to chop a chunk off the bottom of the plate and drill a new strap button hole, but that's going to do the plating a lot of no good. I'll try to take a couple of photos later today.
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