Replacement for Eastman Mandola Tailpiece

[QuakeCity]

A tong on my 815 Eastman mandola broke off. Any suggestions for a tailpiece replacement?
I wont replace with an Eastman tailpiece.

[Wrnchbndr]

I did a google search on your instrument and it appears to just be a standard style of tailpiece. I would think that you have a large choice of high quality parts to choose from from any of a dozen suppliers.

[Marc Berman]

Does your mandola have the cast tailpiece? If so I don't think it does have the "standard" screw pattern. If it has the standard stamped tailpiece with the slide on cover then it does use the standard screw pattern. If I remember correctly the cast tailpiece is narrower and you could replace it with the standard style since it will cover the existing holes.

[QuakeCity]

I did a google search on your instrument and it appears to just be a standard style of tailpiece. I would think that you have a large choice of high quality parts to choose from from any of a dozen suppliers.

Will a standard mandolin tailpiece work on a mandola?

[MikeEdgerton]

Will a standard mandolin tailpiece work on a mandola?

Yes. If it's an Eastman cast tailpiece the end pin spacing might be off. If it was a stamped steel tailpiece then any mandolin tailpiece with the same screw and pin spacing would work. Sometimes they are slightly different.

[QuakeCity]

Ended up replacing the stock tailpiece with an Allen AR-2. It's hard to tell if it improved the sound, but the instrument sounds really good. While I was at it, I also replaced the stock nut with a walrus ivory nut, just because I suppose. All in all, couldn't be more pleased with the instrument.

[Camusic00]

Ended up replacing the stock tailpiece with an Allen AR-2. It's hard to tell if it improved the sound, but the instrument sounds really good. While I was at it, I also replaced the stock nut with a walrus ivory nut, just because I suppose. All in all, couldn't be more pleased with the instrument.

Did you have any issues with the holes lining up? One of the teeth broke on my MDA 815 and I need to replace it. I like the Allen AR-2 but just want make sure the holes match.

[Nbayrfr]

Try contacting Eastman. They replaced, for free, the tailpiece on my 3 year old md515

[Richard500]

These hooks, cast or stamped, can fail for a couple of reasons, but old mandos sometimes just have doubled up strings after a hook failure, and it’s proof that they mostly can take the strain of even two strings unless there’s a defect. Case in point: my current restoration, a 12 string bowlback. Its last owner pasted on a typical stamped steel 8 string tail that actually has twelve hooks, four of them ‘sideways’. He or she used the eight, and one hook bent over and the others held. Haven’t decided what to put on there yet. Probably something closer to the original which is the one-piece stamped steel item, I think.