Violin strings vibrate not only between the top nut and the bridge, but between the bridge and the tailpiece. The bridge performs oscillations, swaying from the foot to the foot, alternately exerting pressure on the top plate, either from the side of the spring then from the side of the sound post; yet it hesitates back and forth. The quality of these oscillations, or rather, the freedom of oscillations of the bridge, directly depends on the string between the bridge and the tailpiece. If this part of the string oscillates harmoniously with the string between the top nut and the bridge, then the bridge gets a lot of freedom in its oscillations. If both parts of the string are not tuned in harmony, then the string behind the bridge serves as a damper for the bridge. The simplest measurements show that the part of the string behind the bridge in all the violins is about six times shorter than the playing part of the string. Thus, we can rightly expect that this short part will sound as the sixth harmonic of an open string, and that such tuning can give positive results in the case of oscillations of the "string-bridge-top plate" system.
But is this always so? Firstly, not all violinists make sure that this part of the string is six times smaller than the main part, although it is not difficult to regulate such a process by shortening or extending the loop of the tailpiece. But even here it's not so simple. Well, we established the proper length of the string on both sides of the bridge, and the desired sixth harmonic was not received. What is the problem? Behind the bridge the string allso has a thread winding and a double string core (after all, a loop is made from it), which it makes the string heavier and lowers its tone. So, we need to shorten this segment a little more to get the desired sixth harmonic. We extend the loop of the tailpiece, but the result again does not satisfy us, because the sixth harmonic is obtained only on two strings: G and D (and sometimes only on one of them), on the other strings this tone is slightly below the desired one. Therefore, in order for the A and E strings to give a tone to its sixth harmonic, it should be shorter than the same segment of the G and D strings.
What can we do to achieve the desired harmonious adjustment of both parts of all four strings? It is necessary either to design a new type of the tailpiece, or to remake an existing one, as it can be seen in the attached photo.
What are the changes in sound?
1 - Attenuation later, the violin sounds like in a room with high reverberation, which was not before.
2 - The timbre became deeper.
3 - It is STOP your open E string from whistling and squeaking.
![[]](/img/m/muratow_s_w/violinsound/tailpeice.jpg)