| Author |
Subject |
Mongkol
Registered User
(10/11/00 2:41:46 am)
Reply |
Lighter
tailpiece is better tailpiece?
Hello,
I am a new CBN learning
cello for 3 months. I just changed the tailpiece of my cello and
found that the sound was much improved. This new tailpiece is made
of plastic with built-in fine tuners. The old one is wood with 4
fine tuners. I noticed that the old 4 fine tuners were very heavy
and might dampen the vibration of the bridge. Therefore, my
conclusion is lighter tailpiece is better. Am I correct?
|
Andrew
Victor
Registered
User
(10/11/00 10:35:59 am)
Reply |
Sometimes!
My experience parallels yours. I
changed from ebony tailpieces with metal fine-tuners to metal
Wittners with built-in tuners (about the same mass as the
plastic/composite tailpieces) a couple of years ago on two cellos
about 35 and 125 years old and found the sound to be much
improved.
However, I made the same change (replacing a
rosewood tailpiece with a composite one) on a new Chinese cello this
year - and although I have not changed back, I'm not sure the sound
is any better, but it doesn't seem any worse either - and the cello
itself is lighter because of this cahnge and the substitution of a
composite endpin for the original, shorter steel one.
So I
conclude that SOMETIMES a lighter tailpiece is better. After
reaching the same conclusion you did, and then experienceing what I
did later, I read that "it depends"-i.e., "it ain't necessarily
so!"
Different strings also make a big difference. It seems
as though some mass is needed between the strings and the tailgut,
and the amount needed depends on other factors of the instrument
(that are unknown to me at this time).
Andy
|
Mongkol
Registered User
(10/12/00 9:56:24 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Some mass is needed !
Thanks for sharing your experience
which is a lot more than mine. After reading your saying that some
mass is needed between the strings and the tailgut, I began to
realize that the wolf tone from F note of the 1st position of D
string is more prominent now. In addition, the A sting sound seems
to be "more metalic" than before. I have to order a wolf tone
eliminator, then.
I don't know is this the reason that I only
saw 2 fine-tuners installed on the tailpiece for the A and D strings
but no fine-tuner for the 2 lower strings (for example, the
Stringworks celli shown on their website)?
|
Andrew
Victor
Registered
User
(10/13/00 9:59:19 am)
Reply |
Fine
tuners
Violinists are quite familiar with
the 6/1 ratio of the length of a string to its "afterlength" - that
is the ratio of the length from nut to bridge to that from bridge to
tailpiece. This afterlength tunes to the 2nd octave of the next
higher string. Some people believe this enhances the resonance of an
instrument's sound since it coincides with one of the overtones - I
have certainly observed that effect on some instruments.
If
you have a fine tuner added to a wooden tailpiece, you cannot
achieve this ratio of lengths. However, with one of the metal or
composite (plastic) tailpieces with built-in tuners, the ratio can
be achieved. In general, the ratio is more important to resonances
of the lower strings.
Even on violin some famous soloists
(Anna Sophie Mütter, z.b.) uses two fine tuners (E and A strings)
instead of the more common one (E-string only). It just makes it
easier to fine tune the A string in this case.
I suspect that
for some players it is a matter of how well their pegs work as well
as what kind of strings they are using.
Personally, I feel
comfortable with 4 fine tuners on a cello because it gives me an
"easy tune option" if I need it (I'm so used to a lifetime of
"sticky" cello pegs). On violin I'm comfortable with only one fine
tuner- although I sometimes regret it. On viola I have a Wittner
tailpiece with 4 built-in tuners (even with Obligato, synthetic
strings) but only because I was too lazy to change the tailpiece
after removing a set of steel Helicores. I have found no
disadvantage in having this tailpiece on the viola - and sometimes
it's a real advantage.
Andy
|
Mongkol
Registered User
(10/16/00 2:08:57 am)
Reply |
Re: 6
to 1 ratio
Thanks Andy. I got the point. I
measured my string ratio. It's 70 cm/11.5 cm = 6/1 as you said.
Rightnow with this new tailpiece (Made in Australia) and the
Helicore strings, my Skylark cello can suit my practicing purpose
for a couple of years.
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