On July 30th, 2005, I was playing an outdoor wedding gig in Boulder, CO. It seemed
like it would be a pretty good gig, actually...Solo guitar, standards
during seating, My Romance during the processional, Don't Get Around
Much Anymore for the Recessional, then some more standards for cocktail
hour. The wedding party were obviously jazz fans, and great folks to boot.
All in all, a nice gig, until MY TAILPIECE EXPLODED!!!!!!!!!!
It was probably close to 90 degrees, although I was in the shade the
entire time, probably an hour or so at this point. I was taking a
quick break before the cocktail hour, and had set my guitar on my stand when I heard this
loud popping sound. I looked back and just caught sight of my pick
(which had been in the strings) go flying. I looked at my guitar, and
it took me a moment to realize that the bridge was gone, I couldn't see
any of the strings as they were wrapped around the back of the neck
three around each side, and the tailpiece was a very thin shade of
its former self.
It actually broke up into 5 seperate pieces (see pics below). The bulk of the tailpiece
stayed on the guitar, with two pieces breaking off each side and then
two more small blocks were still attached to the strings themselves
where they threaded through.
Steve Holst, who made the original replacement, told me that every once in a while ebony
will have a hairline fracture in it that is virtually impossible to
detect. In a tailpiece, the stress on the wood is obviously considerable
and over time will result in it coming apart at whatever defect is
present in the wood. He thinks that's probably what happened to mine.
He has since made me a second tailpiece, but this time it is solid, without
the cut-out in it. Hopefully, this one will stay together for me.
