The New E.F.Elliott "RS Model" Guitars

[Veenture]

...in any case, a beautiful guitar

[Dennisthe Menace]

...in any case, a beautiful guitar

...Paul....you stole my thunder...... .

[handbrake]

...in any case, a beautiful guitar

Touché, Paul.

[ElTwang]

Wowza! How does the stop tail compare to the trem arm equipped Elliotts, Reber?

[Elliot Easton]

Wowza! How does the stop tail compare to the trem arm equipped Elliotts, Reber?

allow me:: the stop tail offers slightly more sustain and tuning stability. it is a guitar, right?

[JimPage]

Interesting question about the stop tailpiece.

I have stop tailpieces on the two Mosrite Celebrities I have. I don't use the tremolo much anyway, so they work fine for me.

I have been cursed with perfect pitch, and I was concerned that the Hallmarks I have would drive me crazy since they all have tremolos. I even disabled the one on my H60C when I first got it, though I put it back in working order a few weeks later.

I haven't noticed any problem having the tremolo, and even considered a few times whether I should add one to the Celebrities (the '67 originally came with a tremolo, but someone had "harvested" all the hardware, and Bob Shade put a Gruggett tailpiece on it for me).

But, again, I seldom use the tremolo, so what the heck.

As usual, Ed seems to somehow add to the elegance of the original Mosrite designs in what he does, and that sure applies to this sample of his work.

The tailpiece on this guitar is different than the Mosely and Gruggett ones I have, though of similar shape, and really adds to the beauty of the guitar.

Beautiful!

--Jim

[handbrake]

Wowza! How does the stop tail compare to the trem arm equipped Elliotts, Reber?

allow me:: the stop tail offers slightly more sustain and tuning stability. it is a guitar, right?

I'm in general agreement with that reply. But the "why" is always a good discussion.

First off, however, I'm no physicist. So bear with me while I explain my untrained theories! In my mind, the stoptails usually have a steeper string break than the trems. As such, the bridge has more string tension laid against it. Less energy gets lost south of the bridge and the "conserved" energy is reflected back into the strings and converted to acoustic sound depending on the nature of the body.

So, the Mosrite trems kinda abhor that model as they end up being a little taller than your average stoptail anyway and wouldn't benefit from sawing back-and-forth across a bridge under a lot of force from the strings (roller bridges notwithstanding).

Trem tuning issues are a perennial discussion! And understandably. Ed's non-roller bridge and trem combos appear to favor the flatwounds as they seem to glide across--not catch on--the bridge. I think the regular 10s on the sunburst three-banger are settling in but not quite as nicely as the flatwounds I had on it before.

[JimPage]

Reber's observation about the flatwound strings mirror the experience I've had, too, especially regarding guitars with tremolos.

Plus, I like the sound of them for the rhythm stuff I play in my classic rock and my country band.

I use "regular" strings on my acoustic guitars, but flatwounds on my electric guitars and basses.

--Jim

[ElTwang]

Thanks Reber. I find that my RS has quite a lot of sustain compared to other trem guitars. So I'd guess the difference is very little compared to the RS stop tail ones.

[Elliot Easton]

Thanks Reber. I find that my RS has quite a lot of sustain compared to other trem guitars. So I'd guess the difference is very little compared to the RS stop tail ones.

very little difference. i notice it mostly bending notes in the upper register. even on my signature model sg i went with the vibrola because it has that '60's vibe. the loss of sustain was negligible and tuning is fine as long as the string are stretched, installed and settled in properly. to me, a bigsby is largely a hood ornament and most guys install them just because they look so darned cool!