A Regular Fiddle with the Innovative Tailpiece-Chin Rest Combo

Introduction

As part of Don Rickert Lutherie's search for the perfect chin rest for our backpacker fiddles and travel fiddles, particularly our 2-inch wide Mountaineer Backpacker Fiddle, we found a unique accessory from  the innovative Dov Schmidt, which combines the function of the tailpiece AND the chin rest. To our amazement, this Tailpiece-Chinrest Combo works extremely well, with NO noticeable detriment to the sound of an instrument and with excellent ergonomic properties (i.e. it is very comfortable and provides an effortless "hold" on the instrument).

In addition to being the answer to our quest for a really usable chin rest for the backpacker and travel violins and fiddles, the Tailpiece-Chinrest Combo also proves ideal for Irish Traditional Fiddlers, who have a long-standing practice of using the tailpiece as a chin rest, as well as many American Old-Time fiddlers. We are now strongly recommending the Tailpiece-Chinrest Combo as an option for buyers of a number of our fiddles and special fiddle setup services, especially:

• Dublin Pro Fiddle by Don Rickert Lutherie
• Fiddle Setup for Irish Traditional Music
• Rickert-Benker Fiddle w Celtic Setup by Don Rickert Lutherie
• Vintage Fiddle with Celtic Setup by Don Rickert Lutherie
• Classic Old-Time Pro Fiddle by Don Rickert Lutherie
• Old-Time Standard Fiddle by Don Rickert Lutherie
• Authentic Early 20th Century Old-Time Fiddle Setup



For more background, see the following prior articles:

• Is it a Tailpiece or a Chin Rest? How About BOTH!
• The Solution to the Chin Rest Problem on Backpacker Violins and Fiddles
• A Chin Rest for Fiddlers Who Do Not Use Chin Rests

Using the Tailpiece-Chin Rest Combo on a Regular Fiddle

We thought that it might be helpful to show you some photos, with explanations, of the Tailpiece-Chin Rest Combo installed on a regular fiddle. As always, you can see a full-size view of each photo by clicking on the thumbnail images. All of these photos, and a few more, are available in a photo album on our Facebook home.

The first five photos show the Tailpiece-Chin Rest Combo installed on a Rickert-Benker custom fiddle from several perspectives. This fiddle is strung with D'Addario Helicore strings and has conventional violin pegs (not planetary geared pegs), so 4 Wittner fine tuners are installed on the tailpiece-chin rest.

This installation uses a Wittner stainless steel tail "gut", which adds noticeable sonority to most instruments.

The Wittner stainless tail gut is extremely thin; so much so that it almost looks like a piece of thread. It is our opinion that the Wittner tail gut allows the Tailpiece-Chin Rest Combo to sit a bit lower than desirable.

We also tried the new state-of-the-art in tail guts, a Dov Schmidt Kevlar cord tail gut. While this tail gut really adds to the sonority of most instruments, we found that it allows the Tailpiece-Chin Rest to rock left and right depending on chin pressure, causing intonation problems.

At this point we are recommending either the tried and true standard Wittner or Sacconi nylon tail guts, both of which are very rigid and quite thick (about 2mm). This takes care of the rocking motion and raises the Tailpiece-Chin rest to what we consider an appropriate height.

If a customer follows our recommendation, they will ALWAYS have us install Wittner Fine-Tune planetary geared pegs. The gearing is hidden in the peg buttons of these pegs.

Because the Wittner planetary pegs are geared with a really nice ratio, the use of fine tuners is definitely NOT necessary for the g, d' and a' strings. Some players may want a single fine tuner for the e" string. The following three photos show the Tailpiece-Chin Rest Combo without any fine tuners and with a single Wittner UNI String Adjuster (fine tuner) for the e" string. The Wittner UNI works a lot like a Hill fine tuner (for loop end strings), but the Wittner UNI is for ball-end strings. A fourth photo shows a closeup of the Wittner UNI String Adjuster.