Pernambuco Tailpieces

[cellopera]

Is anyone familiar with these tailpieces? Also, is there a good (acoustical) reason for their higher prices opposed to other materials? 

[duane88]

If they sound better to you, then they have value. Not every instrument responds to a Pernambuco tailpiece, not every player likes what they do, if anything.

[Andreas Preuss]

Those fittings were sold for their ‘acoustic wonder’ for astronomical prices years ago in Tokyo by one shop. 
 

i got a reasonably priced set from Bernard Morales. In the end it’s an acoustic good material but not so much different from rosewood or good quality boxwood. 

[cellopera]

12 hours ago, duane88 said:

If they sound better to you, then they have value. Not every instrument responds to a Pernambuco tailpiece, not every player likes what they do, if anything.

They already have a monetary higher value regardless of my opinion. I’m trying to find out if that objective value translates into better acoustics.

[baroquecello]

Maybe you gain some knowledge you find useful from this study? (or maybe not)

[cellopera]

2 hours ago, baroquecello said:

Maybe you gain some knowledge you find useful from this study? (or maybe not)

Thank you, it’s an interesting study.

[Jedidjah de Vries]

Given that pernambuco is endangered and that CITES related restrictions are only likely to get tighter with time, and that propper provenance and documentation for the wood is difficult/impossible it strikes me that using pernambuco for fittings is, at the very least, just asking for future trouble, and likely unethical even in the present. We have so many alternative options for tailpieces I can't imagine what (probably marginal, if any) acoustical advantage could justify their use.

All that said, thank you for sharing that study! Other insight into what kind of effect tailpiece material has would be interesting to hear.

[JacksonMaberry]

I'm with Jedidjah. Berdani makes fittings with Sonowood which are excellent and ethically responsible. BlackwoodTek is another promising material, and very affordable, but I don't know of any fittings mfgrs who are using it. It is densified pine and tests really well in durability. I am using it for baroque fingerboard veneers as well as tailpieces.

[MeyerFittings]

I wrote this article quite a few years ago.  At that time only Eric Fouille and I, independently of each other, were making fittings of pernambuco.

first Pernambuco for tailpieces.doc

[PhilipKT]

All the misc fittings on my cello are made of cocobola wood, including the tailpiece. I changed the tailpiece once and the result was so awful I immediately put the original back on.

meanwhile, wood would be less endangered if the major wood producing countries would stop bulldozing the environment.

[christian bayon]

I think the first person who had this idea was Jerome Dariel in Tokyo, and ask to Eric Fouilhé to make them, good results on some instruments, mainly G string 

[JacksonMaberry]

45 minutes ago, PhilipKT said:

All the misc fittings on my cello are made of cocobola wood, including the tailpiece. I changed the tailpiece once and the result was so awful I immediately put the original back on.

meanwhile, wood would be less endangered if the major wood producing countries would stop bulldozing the environment.

This is a good observation, Philip. The main drivers behind exotic wood decline are mining and clear-cutting of forest for pasture. I've occasionally been confronted by people who think luthiers are the problem. Despite that, I do think it's best if luthiers can be part of the solution. Lead by example and all that.

[MeyerFittings]

Most dense Tropical exotic wood species are endangered somewhat including cocobolo. Why stop short, blaming mining and food production? There are just too many people with too many demands on the system. About a quarter of the World is still debating the moral question of birth control.

 

[JacksonMaberry]

12 minutes ago, MeyerFittings said:

Most dense Tropical exotic wood species are endangered somewhat including cocobolo. Why stop short, blaming mining and food production? There are just too many people with too many demands on the system. About a quarter of the World is still debating the moral question of birth control.

 

I stated a fact about the primary issues, with no intention of exploring all of them. Birth control is outside the scope of this forum and I think we'd all benefit from avoiding the topic further.

[PhilipKT]

13 minutes ago, MeyerFittings said:

Most dense Tropical exotic wood species are endangered somewhat including cocobolo. Why stop short, blaming mining and food production? There are just too many people with too many demands on the system. About a quarter of the World is still debating the moral question of birth control.

 

This is wondering pretty far a field, but I do agree, it is possible for a species to be too successful, and if we don’t manage ourselves as well as managing the world, it won’t be long before neither exists anymore.

I wonder how many civilizations have gotten to where we are, and then allowed stupid decisions to destroy themselves.

In the movie contact, Jodie Foster says that the one thing she would like to ask an alien race is how they got past their adolescence.

I think the answer is pretty simple it’s just doing it that’s hard.