tailpiece on a Eastman 315

[eric michel]

Hi everyone,this is my first post;
I recently acquired a MD315 Eastman and broke a string;The string change has been
close to a nightmare!If it had happened during a gig I would have been off for a long long time!Which tailpiece upgrade should I do to make things easier on this particular mando ?

[pickloser]

Hah!--I have now been on the Cafe long enough to see someone post my exact first post.

When I was looking, I really admired John Hamlett's tailpiece. He blushed a bit.

If you take a piece of dental floss and run it thru the loop and then hold both ends of the floss, you can wrassle the loop onto the tailpiece peg with fair ease.

[eric michel]

After all these years mama had been right when she kept telling me to floss!
thanks I'll try this before moving to a new tailpiece.

[Peter Kurtze]

Doesn't the 315 have a stamped, "Gibson-style" tailpiece? I think the floss trick was suggested for the Eastman cast tailpiece.

[pickloser]

Uh oh, I assumed it had the standard Eastman tailpiece. I haven't seen the 315.

Do you mean the "Gibson-style" tailpiece is cheaper? Oh well, but the floss would still allow one to place the loop in tiny spaces where fingers are no help.

[JEStanek]

Orrico, Weber, or Eastman style would all work and be easy. I also have a Hamlett tailpiece on a mandolin and really like it as well. All of these will have you in the $100 range. You could go with an inexpensive cloud tailpiece from Stew Mac as well.

Unfortunately, tailpiece holes don't seem to be standard so, when you remove your's you may have to plug and redrill your holes, or like I would do, pay someone to do it right for me.

Jamie

[Willie Poole]

Yhe OP did say exactly what his problem was so: If it was because the loop of the string kept slipping off of the hooks on the tail piece here is what Id to make changing a string a bit easier....I keep a piece of masking tape under the tailpiece cover and when I change a string I put the tape over the loop and hook so that the string loop won`t slip off...The Gibson type tailpieces sometimes can be a problem if you break a string during a performance...Hope this helps....

Willie

[mandroid]

My trick : pull the string with your right hand, to keep it on the hook.

put the string thru the hole in the peg with your left hand, and wind the string knob.

as the string gets tight , remove your right hand , from under it.
the up and over your hand distance, will be about 3 wraps around the capstan.

[JEStanek]

I use a banjo capo to hold the string to the tailpiece then do the back lock on the post using the Frets.com method. I benefit from the third hand the capo gives me.

Jamie

[Ivan Kelsall]

I'm pretty sure that the Eastman tailpieces have the 'standard' Gibson t/piece hole spacings.You can always check that out with a dealer. If it is the 'standard' spacing,i wouldn't hesitate to buy an Allen cast t/piece for yours.They're a straight swap over & it'll take all of about 15 minutes to do it,if that. There's nothing on an Allen to shake,rattle or jam up.To keep the string loops on the t/piece string posts,put a tiny piece of Blu-Tak over them while you fasten the strings to the tuner capstans,
Ivan