Cast tailpiece upgrade

[JEStanek]

For those of you who have production mandos and have "upgraded" from the stamped tailpiece to a cast one, what has been your experience?
a) What style did you choose (Allen, Orrico, custom from the classifieds..)
b) Was the change out easy?
c) Do you think you got more than a placebo effect?
d) Did you modify the cast tailpiece with some felt or leather to eliminate buzz and, if so, how did you affix the material to the tailpiece?

I'm considering "upgrading" my tailpiece for aesthetic (which are enough for me) and functional reasons and, want to poll the group for your experiences. I have reviewed other threads but our community gets off track after a few replies (I'm guilty too).

I hope my "upgrades" in quotes doesn't upset anyone who really likes the change to the cast tailpiece. I like the look better and like the one on my Eastman. I just want to preempt traditionalist from stating there is no benefit from doing this... Like I said the look alone is worth it.

Thanks in advance ladies and gentlemen.

Jamie

[Don Christy]

I upgraded my original tail piece. Here's my experience:

a) it was an Allen
b) it was easy, though the replacement screws were bigger, so going back won't be a simple matter of swithching back.
c) IMO, not much impact to sound. Makes string changes much easier
d) I never get a buzz with the Allen, but I did sometimes get one from the original cheap tail piece. Putting some felt or leather under the sliding cover usually took care of that.

My assessment, do it if you like the looks of the upgrade and want easier string changes. Otherwise, buy 5 new CDs instead http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Don

[johnwalser]

My ears could be deceiving me, or particularly sensitive to tonal variations, but I have owned three Allen tailpieces and hear a an improvement in sustain and tone, especially in the higher registry. Their standard AR-2 plugs in to existing standard holes and is very easy to install. I had a custom mando made last year and the holes were not standard. Randy made up a MR-2 hand engraved with scrolling that just required filling, staining and applying a bit of lacquer from one of the Gibson pens and using my dremel to make new holes. Really adds beauty with a slightly richer tone to an already fairly amazing sounding instrument.
John

[otterly2k]

Jamie...I put an Allen TR2 on my OM, and a Monteleone style tp on my Breedlove Quartz OO. It's hard to tell what difference it made on the OM, since it's a newly built instrument, and still settling into itself, but I liked the idea of putting a higher quality tp on an instrument that I put so much effort into. The cheezy stamped one just looked crummy. The heavier tp in the Breedlove seems to me to have added body and sustain particularly to the E course.

How did I choose them? I like silver rather than gold metal. I bought the Monte off the classifieds because it was a good price and I thought I'd put it on the OM. And it can take ball end strings, which was important b/c with an odd scale length, having that versatility can make it easier to get strings that fit. Turns out the angle was wrong for that... when I got the Breedlove, it had the TR2 on it, so I swapped them. It also takes both loop and ball end. I did have to drill new holes, (and filled in the old ones) but that was easy.
KE

[otterly2k]

ps... as I was researching, I really liked Brian Dean's "Job's Tears" tailpieces...very graceful, untraditional shape. Since I was looking for tp's that would take both loop and ball end, I ended up with what is described above. However, Brian was lovely to correspond with and very helpful. He also says he may be moving towards making a tp that would also take ball end.
KE

[8ch(pl)]

I put a Weber universal tailpiece on my Mid Missouri M-4. It has improved the sustain and volume without affecting the sweet tone of the instrument.

The Weber came with a really nice metal endpin with a rubber inset and nut. Tighten it to force the rubber against the sides of the hole. I had trouble with the old endpiece popping out. I had to drill out the tapered enndpin hole. I use a slightly smaller nuber twist drill, but only drilled as deep as the length of the rubber piece, so it did not rip through on the inside of the end block.

The Weber also has a self sticking precut piece of felt that goes on the inside to eliminate string buzz.

The holes did not quite line up. The hole spacing was fine, but the unit did not touch down on the mandolin's top plate. I sanded down a pine shim to about 1/32 to fill the gap.

The only problem was getting it. I went to a large music store in Halifax and ordered it. I believe the guy in the store kept forgetting to put the order in. It was 50 weeks in the waiting. I told him that I could have walked to Montana and back in that time. I really like the guy, even if he plays banjo, so I was patient and look at it as a joke. There is not nearly enough interest in mandolin in Nova Scotia that you could compare cast tailpieces. The Weber is the only one that I have seen other than photos.

Oredering from a supplier in the US entails dealing with Canada's Draconian Customs Service.

[TonyP]

I think they are a good idea, but it's the execution that's the thing. I have an older Price cast tailpiece(no longer available) and while it looks like the original stamped tp, it has no cover to rattle. It's good solid construction and has not lost it's string hooks like the old stamped counterparts. The drawback has been the string hooks are up under the tp so it's a hassle to change strings. I noticed no change in volume or sustain but I did have to add my own string damper to stop the "wolf tones' as it had no damper on it like the old tp. The up side is that it's far enough away from the top, unlike all the other tp's, that I was able to attach my homemade armrest to it. If I was going to buy a tp today, I think I would get the James tp just because it's so exquisitely designed and executed. YMMV

[JEStanek]

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

Jamie

[R_Parent]

I replaces a stamped metal tailpiece with a Weber cast version on my Flatiron a couple years back. Two of the small holes and the larger center hole did not line up very well. I filled and redrilled the smaller holes which worked fine. The center hole needed to be enlarged so I used a tapered multi-flute reamer. I worked slowly and all turned out fine. Did not notice much of a tone change but it certainly stays in tune much better. The stamped metal piece had a crack so the tension would not hold evenly.