James Tailpiece Review

[Randy Linam]

I have been teeter-tottering for a year or so trying to justify the $149 cost of a James TP. After paying the bills for this month I actually had money left, so I finally bit the bullet and called Steve at Cumberland Acoustic. He sent me a James TP and I installed it yesterday morning. Here is my honest review.

INSTALLATION
I'm told a James TP is an even swap for most mandolins. No such luck for my Eastman 815V. However, even with very limited Luthier skills I installed it (correctly) in approx. 40 mins. The 40 mins includes removing the old TP and strings.

STRING CHANGE
No sweat - No problem - Easy - Fast - Quick- Simple- Effortless- Trouble Free - Painless

LOOKS
Classic and elegant

BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN
There will be no doubt in anyone's mind the materials used in the James TP are top quality, and without question this is the most well designed and well built TP I have knowledge of.

TONE IMPROVEMENT
Beside the fact that Tone/Sound is subjective, I can't give a fair assessment of tone change because I was replacing a cast TP with a cast TP. I will offer this, to my ears the James TP gave my 815V a change I feel is improved. It gave my 815V a bit of a "deeper-darker" tone without altering the high tone. (if that makes any sense)

VOLUME IMPROVEMENT
Even with a cast for cast change, to my ears there is a slight (but noticeable) volume improvement.

SUSTAIN
To my ears the sustain on my 815V was a bit too much. The James TP brought it down to what my ears perceive as just right.

FINAL THOUGHTS
If there is better TP please let me know because I want to buy one. IMHO, the James TP is worth more than the Cumberland Acoustic price of $149.

I'm not interested in boosting sales for anyone. I offered this review for those of you who have been teeter-tottering as I was. Hope it helps.

Randy

[MikeEdgerton]

The fact that you cannot swap a James tailpiece for an Eastman tailpiece without drilling new holes has been documented here for years. I think I was the first one many many years ago.

[Bill Baldridge]

Deleted post

[mandroid]

I replaced a Cast Lebeda, with a James, Nothing lined up.

but all the plugging and re-drilling required was covered up by the larger footprint of the new Part.

It's all Good.. Now..

[Jackgaryk]

Thanks Randy for the review. I been considering a james for a while. I have a Eastman 915 that I dearly love but it's a pain to change strings...those pesky little pins. It takes me, my wife and 2 or 3 of the grandkids to restring it. seriously...I can see the advantage. and Mike thanks for the heads up about the james tailpiece and the eastwood's screw holes not lining up. Sounds like I will need a pro to swap it out for me.

[Doug Edwards]

Those pesky pins can be handled with a good piece of tape to hold the string end in place during the installation. I had a Weber and an Allen for a while on different mandolins. I currently have a James on my player. Great design.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Doug Edwards - "Those pesky pins can be handled with a good piece of tape to hold the string end in place during the installation.". Or a small piece of Bluetack pressed onto the pins.That's what i use when re-stringing my Weber or Lebeda & i need to use it when re-stringing my James t/piece equipped Ellis.The A & E strings will simply not stay on the 'pins' even with new 'O' rings installed.Other than that, the James is every bit as good as people say. However,i still think that for ease of use,the cast Allen t/pieces are also excellent,
Ivan

[jim simpson]

Three songs into our band's first set last night, I broke an A string. Fiddle player played an instrumental while my James equipped mandolin made my string change easy. I had thought briefly about taking my 2nd mandolin with me but didn't as I rarely experience string breaks. I guess the strings were older than I realized.

[Tobin]

Or a small piece of Bluetack pressed onto the pins.That's what i use when re-stringing my Weber or Lebeda & i need to use it when re-stringing my James t/piece equipped Ellis.The A & E strings will simply not stay on the 'pins' even with new 'O' rings installed.

Have you tried closing the cover? I can't imagine how the string loop could possibly come off the hook while re-stringing if you snap the cover closed after hooking it on.

[bigskygirl]

Like Tobin said, I just close the cover, makes it way easier.

My only complaint is a bit of tarnish is starting, guess I'll have to get better about wiping it down after playing.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Tobin - "Have you tried closing the cover ?" . Err - YES !. Having read so much about the James t/piece 'in use',i did know that closing the cover is supposed to keep the strings on the string hooks.The G & D strings do stay put,the A & E strings just don't. I've checked the cover to make sure that the top isn't malfunctioning in any way,& it's fine. It's no problem,other than that my expectations were a bit dented,
Ivan

[almeriastrings]

I have two mandolins with these tailpieces. I never close them when re-stringing, and have never had a string pop off.

What I do:

1. Hook loop over hook
2. keep some tension on it
3. A couple of quick wraps around tuner post, bottom to top direction, still keeping tension on
4. Thread end of string through post hole, bend/pull in opposite direction to post rotation
5. Tune up

Done. As long as there is some tension against the hook, it can't go anywhere.

[Doug Edwards]

From Tobin - "Have you tried closing the cover ?" . Err - YES !. Having read so much about the James t/piece 'in use',i did know that closing the cover is supposed to keep the strings on the string hooks.The G & D strings do stay put,the A & E strings just don't. I've checked the cover to make sure that the top isn't malfunctioning in any way,& it's fine. It's no problem,other than that my expectations were a bit dented,
Ivan

One thing concerning the James installation, the tailpiece has to be properly angled toward the bridge height. Otherwise the cover will not close properly.

[Doug Edwards]

double post

[mandroid]

One thing concerning the James installation,
the tailpiece has to be properly angled toward the bridge height. Otherwise the cover will not close properly.

Its Noted in the installation instructions . there is a groove machined in them, to bend there.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Almeria - "As long as there is some tension against the hook,& a lump of Bluetack on it,it can't go anywhere.",
Ivan

[Ray(T)]

I'd suggest that there's some slight misalignment somewhere Ivan. I now have two mandolins with James tailpieces and the A and E strings stay put on both of them.

[Dale Ludewig]

I have James tailpieces on a couple mandolins here. I've put them on quite a number of mandolins I've built for other people. They're great. Alignment to the bridge height is very important but simple.

I also have used a lot of Allens. They're also very good, but I prefer James.

As to strings popping off the attachment on either of these, I take a pair of pliers and squeeze the loop on the end of the string until it takes a little effort to get it over the post. It's pretty effective. I've never broken a string because I did "the squeeze".

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Ray - I even went to the trouble of placing a piece of carbon paper over the '0' rings & closing the cover to see if it was closing evenly & it was. As all it takes is a tiny piece of Bluetack to solve the problem,there really isn't a problem. The James is perfect in every other way & i'm not tinkering with it.
Dale - I have to squeeze the string loops closed to re-string my Weber every time because of the restricted space on the tailpiece 'pins'. On my Lebeda,i have to open them up to get the loops over the pins.It's no problem,just part of the task,
Ivan

[sblock]

Hi Ray - I even went to the trouble of placing a piece of carbon paper over the '0' rings & closing the cover to see if it was closing evenly & it was. As all it takes is a tiny piece of Bluetack to solve the problem,there really isn't a problem. The James is perfect in every other way & i'm not tinkering with it.
Dale - I have to squeeze the string loops closed to re-string my Weber every time because of the restricted space on the tailpiece 'pins'. On my Lebeda,i have to open them up to get the loops over the pins.It's no problem,just part of the task,
Ivan

By "bluetack," I presume you mean "Blu-Tack", which is an English product (from Bostik). It is a putty-like adhesive meant for hanging posters to walls and suchlike. Blu-tack is widely available in U.K. and Australia, but not so much here in the U.S., and many Mandolin Cafe readers will have never heard of this stuff! Easier to find in the U.S. are some other adhesive putties, like Elmer's Poster Tack, Scotch Adhesive Putty, and Loctite Fun-Tak (check out any hardware store). These items will all work for this purpose.

That said, you don't really need to use adhesive putty! You don't even need to close the cover. All you need to do is keep the tension on the string once you place the loop and around the pin in the tailpiece. If you learn to change strings by winding the opposite end around the tuner post 2-3 times under light tension, then thread the free end through the hole in the post, and turn the tuner knob a just a small amount to remove all slack, you WON'T EVER HAVE THIS PROBLEM. Several others have described this method already in other posts. In addition to not requiring some way to hold the loop end of the string inside the tailpiece at zero tension, it has the added advantages that (1) it's much, much quicker, and (2) it doesn't make you turn the tuning knob very much, so you have no need for a peg-winder or similar tool.

If you haven't yet tried this method, folks, please do! For some of us, there was no going back after we saw how much easier this is than those other, "conventional" methods.

[samlyman]

If my memory serves me correctly - there is a general agreement on the Cafe forum threads that tailpieces do not influence tone very much at all. I had a conversation along these lines with Michael Heiden last year and those were his thoughts as well.

-Sam

[Dick Hutchings]

[sblock]

If my memory serves me correctly - there is a general agreement on the Cafe forum threads that tailpieces do not influence tone very much at all.-Sam

Well, if my memory serves me correctly, there is seldom general agreement on the Cafe forum about anything!

You're quite right, though. People claiming to hear significant improvements in tone after replacing their tailpieces are likely deluding themselves (easy to do!). That, or they have changed something else about their setups as well (like the string break angle, which mostly definitely can affect tone) when they swapped out the tailpiece. There are plenty of excellent reasons to desire a James tailpiece (classic great looks, functionality, superb quality workmanship, built-in harmonic suppression, and more) but tonal improvement should not be one of them.

[Glassweb]

I have been teeter-tottering for a year or so trying to justify the $149 cost of a James TP. After paying the bills for this month I actually had money left, so I finally bit the bullet and called Steve at Cumberland Acoustic. He sent me a James TP and I installed it yesterday morning. Here is my honest review.

INSTALLATION
I'm told a James TP is an even swap for most mandolins. No such luck for my Eastman 815V. However, even with very limited Luthier skills I installed it (correctly) in approx. 40 mins. The 40 mins includes removing the old TP and strings.

STRING CHANGE
No sweat - No problem - Easy - Fast - Quick- Simple- Effortless- Trouble Free - Painless

LOOKS
Classic and elegant

BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN
There will be no doubt in anyone's mind the materials used in the James TP are top quality, and without question this is the most well designed and well built TP I have knowledge of.

TONE IMPROVEMENT
Beside the fact that Tone/Sound is subjective, I can't give a fair assessment of tone change because I was replacing a cast TP with a cast TP. I will offer this, to my ears the James TP gave my 815V a change I feel is improved. It gave my 815V a bit of a "deeper-darker" tone without altering the high tone. (if that makes any sense)

VOLUME IMPROVEMENT
Even with a cast for cast change, to my ears there is a slight (but noticeable) volume improvement.

SUSTAIN
To my ears the sustain on my 815V was a bit too much. The James TP brought it down to what my ears perceive as just right.

FINAL THOUGHTS
If there is better TP please let me know because I want to buy one. IMHO, the James TP is worth more than the Cumberland Acoustic price of $149.

I'm not interested in boosting sales for anyone. I offered this review for those of you who have been teeter-tottering as I was. Hope it helps.

Randy

Both my mandolin and mandola are equipped with James TPs and I like 'em. I do, however, think $150 for a tailpiece assembly is excessive... that seems high to me. Then again I use BlueChip picks at $35 dollars a pop! That seems high to me too! This says something about the quality and reputation of both these fine products....

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi sblock - It is 'Blu-tack' & that's the way i used to spell it,but i'm sure i saw it spelled differently once - or maybe not !. A tiny piece of child's plasticine ore even 'Play doh' will do the trick just as well,
Ivan