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Wasn't sure where to put this query, but I am thinking about getting a custom string through tailpiece made and was wondering if there were any machine shops in the US that someone could recommend? Looking for capabilities with Steel, copper, and nickel silver. Preferably a shop that has experience with musical instrument parts.

Trying to reverse engineer a unique design.

Yeah. Dream on.
The only machine shop I know of that makes guitar parts is Allparts in Katy, Texas.

Your best bet is find someone here on the OLF to produce it for you.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I would imagine at a price, Bill James would manufacture them for you. His is a full CNC shop.

http://www.axinc.net/

Try Brown's Guitar Factory in your area. If they don't want the one off business I'd bet they have somebody they can refer you to. They make a bunch of the special tools sold by Stewmac.

I took a strat to them years ago and were really helpful. Got me hooked onto Premier Guitar Magazine. Had a bunch of free copies, must have been 30 different issues (I'm guessing from his column), just handed them to me when I picked up the guitar. I'll get in touch with them.

User here Stuart Gort makes incredible hardware for his guitars. I'm not sure if he does this for others, but worth asking him.

I managed to contact Stuart Gort, he's really busy at the moment, so unfortunately isn't able to help at the moment. I've contacted the other two and I'll see what happens. I figured there'd be more out there given the recent boom in *boutique* parts for pretty much anything on a guitar.

any competent machine shop can do this work -it isn't rocket science. but your problem though is that you need a one off which most shops will charge you a really high price for that because their overhead is too big. board members or local shops would be a good bet as stated. imo, it's a good idea to support local business and luthiery in general by keeping it "in the family" so to speak.

large shops are going to want decent prints or a solid model or they are going to insist on charging you to create one. small shops can work with you one-on-one.

i've been on both sides of the fence, and coming from the business side of things i've seen many "idea men" come in with what initially appears to be a simple reverse engineering/prototype that job grows into a giant mess with everybody pissed off in the end. so my advice is to be clear and firm on your intentions and to listen to what the vendor is saying. come to a mutual agreement that has clearly defined boundaries in terms of what is to be done, when it is to be done by, and what the budget is. it can be a formal contract or a back alley handshake, but just make sure everybody involved understands.

Arie nailed it.

You need prints or you need to pay someone to make them. Most shops these days prefer solid models. Because it's just easier that way, especially if there is a lot of contouring involved. Any shop should be able but that doesn't mean they want to mess with it. I could make the parts but at the moment I have no time. I can't even keep up with production at the moment. Hopefully u will find someone. If not I'll check back when we have slowed down a bit.

Cool, appreciate it. Yeah, the options I've tried so far are either only doing the larger order runs, or the smaller shops are usually booked solid and can't keep up with the current demand for services. I'm going to see if some people I know might be able to assist in rendering it with CAD software. The contouring will be a major pain, but I figure to at least get the best "average" curve/contour to the underside and then do fine-filing to get a tight fit.

This may be obvious to some, but are there google search terms that might help that might be lesser known to someone brand new to these kinds of services? Some that might help me find the smaller shops? I run searches and get some local hits, but those usually are the larger shops, then the larger national ones get listed. I can gather the obvious keywords but maybe there's one or two that are kind of esoteric.

assuming that you have something in your hands, getting a cad model from your positive is a good idea and either a cmm, laser scanner, portable cmm, or a probe mounted to a machining center is required. have them export the file in both .stl and .iges formats. ask for wireframe and solids output. most shops should be able to handle these files. on the left coast pricing for that might be in the $500 to $1500 range (using a cmm) depending upon your accuracy requirements and complexity of the part. or you could find somebody to wing it with cad software.

as far as searching goes, whenever i have to look for a vendor i start here:

http://www.thomasnet.com/

unfortunately when i went there, their site was locked up. i was going to look for shops in the mn area for you. i think the search term "prototype" best suites your case. if you are looking for a shop to generate a cad model for your part a "cmm" shop or "inspection" or "reverse engineering" would be where i'd start with terminology.

the way the mfg. world works these days is that if you want a part that isn't hand made, it's somehow gotta get into a computer. another old school alternative is to have the thing cast, but that doesn't really give you machinable data to work with. on the other hand a lot of this depends upon how complex the component is.

wish i could run the thing through our shop but unfortunately only national labs with phase 2 grant money can afford us.

Casting is an alternative I hadn't thought of. How does someone who works in a foundry not think of casting????? Sometimes we overlook the obvious.

Check into the casting thing, but that will all depend on how complex the part is, and how many you want to make. Castings are cheap but require a significant amount of money upfront to have tooling made. Also depending on the tolerances and finish you want will determiner the type of casting, if you go that route.

If you can get me full front pictures and dimensions from the actual part, I can reverse engineer it for you.

I can import the pictures into my CAD software and use it as a reference. It's my day job to do stuff like this, we do it all the time using this method.

I've done quite a few parts like this, and I can work with point clouds either ASCII or STL if you can get the parts scanned.

The CAD part I can help, then you could get in touch with these guys:

http://www.protolabs.com/firstcut

They do pretty much anything. Price...I don't know, but you need a 3D file to get a quote.

Let me know.

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CNC is a tool, not cheating

true, but i was thinking of lost wax. it's quick, cheap and ok for a couple of prototypes. use a silicone mold to make the patterns.

Lost wax could work. Especially if you have the know how to make the patterns yourself. Decent for prototypes. Even some production work. It all kinda depends on what the part actually is. Without knowing more than we know it's hard to suggest one thing over the other.

true 2X. without knowing what the thing looks like it's hard to make a more precise suggestion. otoh, what is the op going to do -make us all sign nda's

I for one am way too busy to try and steal someone's ideas lol. I understand the reason why one might keep a design to themselves though. But it does make it hard to offer constructive advice in some circumstances. I remember a guy asking for help with something one time and he was so secretive about what it was that nobody could offer any help at all. He got frustrated and it all turned in to a big argument. (I don't think that's what's going on here. It just reminded me of it and gave me a good laugh).

Being in manufacturing you see these guys that come in with some grand idea about something and they are very secretive about it. Finally when you convince them that you aren't out to steal their idea and that you just have to know what it is to give them a quote, they show you and it's some sort of ridiculous gadget that doesn't even work. It's quite entertaining sometimes. I wish I could describe some of these gadgets, but I promised I wouldn't tell. Hahaha

Basically trying to replicate a string through tailpiece like:
http://www.tgltokyo.com/sakashta_noupaul_rf_1.htm

The hard part is the contouring underneath. Deciding if I want to try a whole block that the strings go through too.

Getting the bottom to match the contour of the guitar will be tricky. May just have to get it close and then sand it to match. Much like you do fitting a bridge to the contour of the soundboard. Especially if the guitar bodies aren't made on a CNC. Getting a consistent contour will be difficult. If the tailpiece was solid and dropped through the entire body and the back of the guitar was flat it would be a much simpler piece to make IMO.

that's a nice tailpiece. too bad about Taku -he's no longer with us.
http://abc7news.com/archive/7279378/

were it mine i'd make a shallow pocket on the top of the guitar -just enough to get under the top "bulge". no need to make it go all the way through, it'll add too much weight imo. or you can match the contour with a grinder. you really don't want sharp contact at the edges though, they'll bite into the finish.

+1 on the pocket. Man my brain just ain't working good these last few days. I shoulda thought of that. I'm gonna blame it on lack of sleep. Haha

Really appreciate the input, and sincerely, thank you so much for all the help.

I don't have the physical part. It's more of a personal pet project. I loved the look and aesthetic balance (of which the tailpiece is a large part IMO) and am trying to reverse engineer it. Plus it adds something a little new to the Les Paul formula, which I'm always a fan of. Lots of cool little construction details.

Sorry for coming off secretive, definitely not my intention. Not even an original idea, just blatantly following the idea of a true innovator.

I managed to email someone who assisted Taku and asked about the piece. He didn't want to give out too many details (understandable, issues of legacy, etc.) but he did say a general contour was made but that sanding was involved in getting it to fit to the top.

We make our own tailpiece from T6 Aluminum.
We we don't use coolant but have found a bit of lube works for drilling operations and we use Alumastar (boron nitride) coated end mills for milling operations.

That's a sweet looking tail piece Pete.

Thanks Sheldon,
I hate running metal in our mill, but it's a necessary evil.