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This particular page was created 28/11/2004 and last updated 17/05/2005
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| | The tailpiece is simply a bracket to attach the strings to. It should be stable and hold the strings firmly, it should be designed to make it easy to change the strings and it should keep the sharp endpoints of the strings safely away from the player's hands.The tailpiece is one of the more mythologically charged parts of the banjo. There seems to be no limit to how much the right tailpiece can improve a banjo. Truth is that there's not much sound production going on down there. That doesn't mean the tailpiece doesn't matter at all, just that its significance is sometimes a bit overrated. A heavy tailpiece gives the strings a firmer anchorage and generally produces more sustain than a lighter one. Most modern tailpieces has a metal plate running towards the bridge over the strings pushing them down. This gives the string a sharper angle over the bridge, and that definitely affects the banjo's tone. A sharp angle gives a more "compact" and louder tone with less sustain. The most popular bridges today seems to be the adjustable ones that allow the banjoist to adjust the string angle to his/her own taste.
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