Hey there everyone in banjo land - can anyone advise about (as in Who, or What company made this?) this unmarked tailpiece, which for all practical purposes, is "nearly identical" to a Grover Presto - BUT "not quite" exactly. There are some differences, which I'll try to point out. The Grover has a cover which mounts to the tailpiece with two "bumps." On the Grover tailpiece, there are dimples in the main part of the tailpiece, and small holes in the cover itself, that these dimples fit into. On this unmarked tailpiece, the cover is riveted to the main part of the tailpiece. On the cover - the Grover has a "line" around the outer perimeter of the cover, on the unmarked tailpiece, that line is NOT present. On the Grover, the underside has the "racetrack" or (oval?) "football." On the unmarked tailpiece, that football or racetrack is NOT present. On the Grover tailpiece, at the back end of the cover - it is marked "Grover Patent Presto." On the unmarked tailpiece, that script is NOT present. When one tries to line these two tailpieces up as far as length - the unmarked tailpiece is slightly longer, approx 1/8". Another difference I see is the Grover TP has threaded spot, on the back end, for an adjustment screw. The unmarked TP has no such threaded area for an adjustment screw. There may be other differences which I'm missing, but these are the few that I observe and jump out at me! Any help as to identifying this tailpiece would be appreciated, thanks! To the moderators - if this topic is best suited somewhere else, feel free to move it there!
Edited by - GStump on 01/22/2026 13:34:18
Great topic, GStump. I have seen one like the unmarked one but but just assumed it was post-war and maybe subcontracted to another banjo builder (hence being unmarked). I look forward to hearing what those who know have to say.
Waverly. The Vega banjos from the fifties and sixties used a similar style.
The riveted Presto is later than the one with the dimples. Although both are Grover, it's entirely possible that Waverly made the later one—according to those who were there, StewMac threw out a lot of paperwork and tooling showing that Waverly was the OEM for a lot of Grover branded parts.
This version of the Presto was definitely made by Waverly and used by Vega as well as a number of European makers.
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