Technical data
| Instrument | violin |
| Material | rosewood |
| Shape | French, hollowed |
| Length | 115 mm |
| Item number | ZA-7483R-115 |
Features
- Tailpiece for violin
- Material rosewood
- Version: French shape, hollowed
- Length 115 mm
In practice
- The tailpiece takes the string tension and holds the strings in position. It is the bridge that transmits vibration; the tailpiece's mass and afterlength play their part.
- Listed under species protection law are the rosewood species of the genus Dalbergia and the ebony populations of Madagascar. For finished instrument parts and finished accessories the musical instrument exemption applies; no CITES documents are needed for trade within the EU.
Sound and physics
Between bridge and tailpiece lies the afterlength, the short section of string behind the bridge that vibrates along as you play. In our workshop we set it to 55 millimetres on a 4/4 violin, with a tolerance of one millimetre. That is one sixth of the 328 millimetre vibrating string length; it is measured from the front edge of the tailpiece saddle to the bridge.
The afterlength follows from the length of the tailpiece and of the tailgut, the loop that anchors it to the end button. That is why we make violin tailpieces in 106, 108, 110, 112 and 115 millimetres to suit the instrument's string length.
Through tailgut and end button the tailpiece carries the full longitudinal pull of the four strings, around 21 to 23.5 kilograms on a 4/4 violin with the Thomastik synthetic sets we stock. Its own mass and that of any fine tuners feed back into the way the body vibrates. Our French ebony model ZA-328E weighs 13 grams at 106, 14 at 108, 16 at 112 and 17 grams at 115 millimetres; the ZA-350 with Parisian eye weighs 20 grams at 115 millimetres.
We make our tailpieces in ebony, rosewood and boxwood. Of these three woods ebony has the highest density. Our rosewood, Dalbergia latifolia, is listed in the materials literature with a density of 820 to 920 kilograms per cubic metre. For the same shape and length the tailpiece's mass therefore follows the wood, and it also varies from piece to piece with the wood's density.
Our models differ in shape: the French with a softly rounded outline, the Hill or English shape with a gabled, ridged top, and the tulip shape with a chalice-like outline. In terms of sound, what matters with all three shapes is mass and afterlength. Every Götz tailpiece is drilled for the tailgut and comes with one. Our tailpieces are finished in Markneukirchen; the white Götz seal marks pieces with verified timber origin.
On a hollowed tailpiece the underside is milled out as far as the wood allows. As a result our French ebony model ZA-7483 weighs 13 grams at 112 millimetres, while the solid French model ZA-328E weighs 16 grams at the same length. With the same shape, wood and length, hollowing therefore removes around 3 grams, just under a fifth of the mass.
In violin making the lighter ZA-7483 is thus regarded as a smaller load on the vibrating system behind the bridge. Ebony allows this work without losing stability.
Our experience
Our experience: a tailpiece can readily be exchanged on a violin, and we then bring the sound back into balance through the setup.
Our experience: customers choose between ebony, rosewood and boxwood for a tailpiece by colour and grain; in sound we find the three woods equivalent. For fitting sets we are happy to put together parts that match in colour and grain.
Our experience: we supply the hollowed tailpiece ZA-7483 with a length-adjustable synthetic tailgut, which lets the afterlength be set exactly on the instrument.
When another model suits you better
If you tune all four strings with fine tuners, the Wittner ULTRA for violin is a fine choice, with four integrated fine tuners and a nylon tailgut.
If you prefer the mass of a solid tailpiece, the French model ZA-328 offers the same outline in solid form, in ebony from 106 to 115 and in rosewood in 112 and 115 millimetres.
Frequently asked questions
Which tailpiece length suits a 4/4 violin?
For a 4/4 violin with a standard setup we recommend 115 millimetres. What matters is that tailpiece and tailgut together give the right afterlength.
Is Palisander the same as rosewood?
Yes, Palisander and rosewood are two names for the same wood. We use Dalbergia latifolia.
These texts hold decades of experience and a great deal of heart. They are protected by copyright, C.A. Götz jr. GmbH. Please ask us before any use. Thank you for your appreciation.
