Violin/Fiddle: Dr. Thomastik Tailpiece Doctor Thomastic

Subject: Question answered
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 10:05:36 -0500

<http://www.folkofthewood.com/page4879.htm>http://www.folkofthewood.com/page4879.htm didn't read far enough on the bridge question but still curious on metal tailpieces. God gave me a gift of good hands and my son plays backup for the South Dakota Old Time Fiddlers and I run sound and record for them. A couple of years ago I started fixing minor problems and its leading to more and more things , have purchased books to read but the books leave out little things that I learn from your articles. I have two fiddles that need the tailpiece replace so this is why I am researching this.

Don Monrad

Greetings Don,

My suggestion, if you're looking for functionality first (as I do), would be to go with the Dr. Thomastik tailpiece. I have one on my main violin...and, it serves much better purpose than the original tailpiece...you don't have to worry about independent tuners coming loose nor about the tuning accuracy...

Mickey

Subject: Re: Fwd: Fiddle purchase (fwd)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 18:55:04 -0700

Mickey,

Greetings again Trish,

Glad to assist further:

Thanks, again. Today I ordered the SV-1320 from Nathan at your shop (the
distributer was actually out of the SV-1260). Nathan was very knowledgable
and helpful, by the way. I'm convinced that I should add a tailpiece with 4
fine-tuners, but can you tell me what the color/finish of the Dr. Thomastik
will look like on my violin?

The Thomastik has a flat black look to it...almost ebony in appearance. Again, this is what I use...

Will it be a black/shiny metal, or do I have
any choice of color/finish for it?

Sorry, I've never seen them in any other color...

The reason I ask is that the tailpiece
on the Maestros (as you know) is a warm brown wood, so I'm just trying to
imagine what the Dr. Thomastik will look like on it.

I understand...having the functionality of 4 fine tuners is very important to me...and, the independent tuners can be somewhat problematic. I suspect that's one of the main reasons that concert soloists only have the E string tuner...

I'll try to get some pictures made of the Dr. Thomastik this week...I'll keep you posted...no guarantees since it's been an overwhelming week...Would you be coming up to pick up your violin...it would be even easier to assist you personally with this...Mickey

Cheers,
Trish
Las Cruces

Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 11:46:46 -0400
Subject: Thomastik fine tuners

Hi,

I just got some work done on my fiddle and got new stings at the same time. They person who worked on it wasn't familiar with the wooden Thomastik tailpiece with fine tuners and seems to have put the stings on incorrectly. The problem is that now, I don't have a correctly strung sting to use as a model to fix them. The ball of the string seems to be at the wrong end of the fine tuner, so that when I screw the tuner down, it doesn't seem to affect the string.

Do you have any instructions? Or a picture?

Thanks,

Rebecca Burwell

Greetings Rebecca,

I use a Thomastik tailpiece myself...only, I do not have any current pictures on how the strings fit. It would be quite difficult to explain by e-mail. I'll try to take some pictures soon...please stay tuned on our website for future updates on the Thomastik tailpiece...the Thomastik is my personal favorite fine tuner option...

Good luck with your research...

Mickey