Question...why do most people use loop end strings ?
Is there a disadvantage to using ball end ?
Methinks the tailpiece would dictate which style to use. No holes in the TP on my GoldTone for strings to pass through ... so far as I can see it's loop ends only. The TP on my Morgan Monroe looks like it will accommodate either style. I don't know about the rest of "most people." 
Edited by - Owen on 03/18/2025 14:41:59
It depends on the tailpiece. Some work better with loop end strings, some work better with ball end strings. Here's a picture of my RB150 with an Elton car trunk tailpiece string with ball end strings. I also have a couple of banjos with the Kluson knock off tailpieces which are strung the same way.
If you buy ball end strings by mistake remove the ball carefully and you will have loop ends.
My guess is that most “traditional” banjo tailpieces were first designed for gut strings that tie on in some way. Even the Grover Presto mentions attaching gut in the patent.
Wire strings, historically, were a compromise and only became common after pick playing became popular. Early on, many suppliers sold “spool wire” and one would twist their own loops in the end or attach using the “no not” method.
I theorize that loop ends just became standard.
The guitar, though gut string as well, in America, used a pin block bridge (German guitars were the influence if I am not mistaken) as opposed to the Spanish tie block. The end of the string was knotted in a sort of ball. Pin blocks were actually designed as a clean way to attach gut strings (most people don’t know this). It just happens that it also works with ball end strings.
A ball end strings is quickly converted to a loop end by smashing the ball with a hammer.
The ball is made out of pot metal and is easily crushed with one hit.
