Does anyone make new ones? I'm guessing not since Gold Tone is using a 4-string no-knot on the MB-850, but I figure it's worth asking.
No one is making them, but I have modified an exceptionally nice tailpiece made in Portugal to work on mandolin banjos.
Purchase on eBay.
To make it work for a banjo mandolin:
1) round off the point at the bottom of the tailpiece
2) enlarge the hole at the bottom of the tailpiece to accomodate the hanger screw.
3) Bend the tailpiece at the two indentations above the tail piece hanger screw hole.
Occasionally I have had to skinny the tailpiece to get it to fit between the hooks. Just a little bit of grinding does the trick.
Hope that helps.
Bob Smakula
Edited by - Bob Smakula on 07/01/2026 13:28:44
While I certainly don't want to take anything away from what Bob has created, there are mandolin tailpieces on Aliexpress
Tailpiece , some of which I carry here for replacements on banjo mandolins I work on. The selection is good.
Take a good look at this Waverly tailpiece. It's the same one they made for years but this one if folded to accept a hanger. Mandolin, banjo, guitar etc. Martin, Gibson, Kay, Harmony and many others used it. Vega cut the bottom for their banjo-mandolins and screwed it to the stretcher. This particular 'piece came from a 1930s Kalamazoo plectrum banjo. The other tailpiece has the Waverly "cloud" cover.
If you're good at bending metal, one of the thinner tailpieces at the above link can be shaped to fit.
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