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Comment by Mr.melo on February 24, 2014 at 9:11am

till this day my favorite  tail piece to make is out of old bubblegumball machine chute doors..look beautifull when put together..and string holes drilled....check out some of my pics you will see:)

Comment by Mr.melo on February 24, 2014 at 9:09am

I find that one of the best things to use is an old car seat belt buckle ..crack it open and use he inside chrome piece with a screw and a washer..works nice....strong...very strong

Comment by Comrade Paul on February 20, 2014 at 3:49pm

just saw where one guy used a spatula, which is like Phrygian Kid's scrap aluminum and Melo scrap iron.  I have to admit I'm flipping out on the spatula idea.  No more pretty mandolin pieces.  i have grown today.

Comment by Mr.melo on February 20, 2014 at 2:32pm

thanks lads that was a great bunch of ideas:P you can tell im talking with some of the best builders..

tin snip ideas very cool:) too!! :)

Comment by Uncle John on February 20, 2014 at 12:42pm

Already some good answers.  I have used the mandolin tail pieces, various hinges, a spoon, wood, a drawer pull and scrap sheet metal.   For my relic builds. I really like the sheet metal cut with tin snips.  

 

And of course a lot of folks have the strings starting on the back of the box.

Comment by The Phrygian Kid on February 18, 2014 at 4:29pm

Oh ps, also nicely conductive... So pretty easy to connect your strings to ground there too...

Comment by The Phrygian Kid on February 18, 2014 at 4:24pm

My favourite is scrap aluminum, screwed on and bent over. Easy to cut & drill, light and resonant, polishes up nice, easy to engrave too.

You can find a nice cage of thin aluminium sheet supporting the cathode ray tube in old TVs and computer screens that people throw out (among other things like magnets in back of speakers, cool screws and bolts, and enough hook up wire for at least a dozen guitar circuits.) always be on the lookout for old TVs and computers you can gut

Comment by Comrade Paul on February 18, 2014 at 4:00pm

Well, I've tried many, couple of hinges, odd assorted stuff i have in 25 years of home repair, but honestly the best sounding backstop is the Mandolin one that Gitty sells here.  Not associated with the site, but all the hinges and thingamabob's just seem to deaden the sound.  I still use brass bolts for the bridge and nut and hardwood store 1x2 for the necks but the $7 you spend on the mandolin tailpiece will be the best investment you can make in good sound.  Like to hear from anyone else, but that's my experience.  And also, use the wand acoustic pickups over the piezzo ones.  It's good to do one piezzo just to hear the raw sound, but when you build a nice CBG you want good pickups and the wands do the trick.

Comment by Ron "Oily" Sprague on February 18, 2014 at 6:44am

Bent Forks and spoons