string anchor bridge

Hi guys, I am looking for the strings anchor bridge on the rear of my rainbow 1 semi. Please can anyone help? I bought this beauty in 1984 and it gave me many years of pleasure. I live in South Africa and am having a problem finding spares.

Hi there and Welcome,

I'm not sure what part you mean? Is this the string tail piece ( bar) that anchors the strings just before the bridge? If so, have look at the previous post in this section. Seems like tail pieces are breaking everywhere at the moment !!

Any chance of describing the part in more detail or posting a pic?

As for spares, the Westone website has a spares section although It may not cover all your needs. By any chance, do you know who the South African importer of Westones was? May give you a start. Where in SA are you based? I lived in SA for a couple of years in the 80's and there several good Music shops in J'burg.

Tell us more and post some pics of your Rainbow

All the best

Steve

Hi Steve777, Thank you for your quick response. Yes, I am looking for the bridge at the rear of the guitar, which anchors the strings. The bridge on my guitar collapsed between the fourth and fifth strings. A friend of mine that has good knowledge of various metals, says that metal fatigue could be the result. Judging by your message, there are other similar problems noted.

Is your Rainbow 1 version 1 or 2? Version 1 had a straight tail piece, version 2 had a slightly curved one. If its straight, then I suppose it wouldn't be difficult to make one from round steel bar and have the ends machined to fit. The curved tail piece obviously needs more work to make. Either one I believe fits. You'll probably need the help of a small engineering shop.

You may be right in terms of casting flaws. Is there no one in SA who can do cheap low volume casting and chrome plating if all else fails?

Certainly, I'm not aware of any spare, available, and original tail pieces here in the UK.