Floating Tailpiece for mandolin ?

[BluegrassPhilfromFrance]

Does anybody know where I can get a floating tailpiece for mandolin,like the one John Monteleone makes for his Radio Flyer model or find a plan guide to make them ? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[MandoDiddle]

Good question Phil. How bout it? Does anyone have ideas for a floating tailpiece?

[labraid]

What is "floating"? if I may display my ignorance on the terminology...

[Tom C]

It's hard to see here, but it's almost like the tailpice is connected to the end pin with some sort of "rubber band" and the tailpiece floats rather than #attached.It's made out of ebony I believe.
http://www.monteleone.net/gifs/rfm1lg.JPG

[JeffS]

There is a hinge mechanism where the bend would normally be on a regular tailpiece. Someone a while back was discussing here making a hinged tailpiece for a mandolin. Floating tailpieces are very common on jazz and archtop guitars. Sometimes they're called a trapeze tailpiece. Look at most of your Gretsch and Epiphone guitars and you'll see what I mean. Stew Mac has one in their catalog for a 12 string.

[jim simpson]

I've mentioned this before but what I would like to see is not a hinged tailpiece but a tailpiece with a hinged cover. Just think of it, no cover to lose. It could be made of cast or machined material to maintain a traditional look if desired. I have looked at my Price 2-piece and wondered how it would be if it were hinged instead of slide and lock. The cover does lock on well and doesn't rattle. I can't imagine losing it I just think flipping back the cover would be a cool design. I know, shut up and do it yourself!

[sunburst]

My Hamlett tailpieces are what you might call "simi floating".
In violins and jazz guitars the floating tailpiece is thought to have a damping affect on the strings as they go from the tailpiece to the bridge. I think mine damp some of the ringing of the strings from the bridge to the tailpiece, but by no means all of it. I've had some people tell me that they got a better chop after changing to one of my tailpieces, and others have commented on the relative lack of ring on chop cords.

[BluegrassPhilfromFrance]

Here it is ! I found one while surfing on the net on the Corrado Giacomel website. He's the guy who has built the strange looking octave mandolin for Tim O'Brien.

[John Bertotti]

I would think that a floating tailpiece would not only dampen the strings from the tailpiece to the bridge but also the over all tone a bit. Maybe not enough to be real noticeable but if the tailpiece is floating wouldn't it dampen the longitudinal changes of the string when plucked thereby affecting the overall sound. I don't mean to say this is bad it may be a good result for some mandolins, just making an observation. That tailpiece is a looker though! John http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Charlie Ayers]

Steve Holst uses them on his mandos: http://www.pacinfo.com/~sholst/

Charlie