Gilchrist / Northfield Tailpiece
Gilchrist / Northfield Tailpiece
Steve Gilchrist has been raising the bar on mandolin making since he started building. There has always been a distinctive look and sound to his instruments and the decades-worth of incredible work has earned him a place at the pinnacle of this craft. We’ve looked up to him for many years.
Last year we approached him with the idea of collaborating on a project to make his well-known tailpiece available on our instruments and in our online shop.
We’ve always admired the elegant design and thought that it would make a nice addition to the products we offer.
We’re very honored to make it available to you now.
A little history about this tailpiece from Steve “I first prototyped it in 1996-97 after slowly working on an idea I had from an old Lyon & Healy bowlback many years ago that had a clamshell design that hinged from the lower tail end. I think they were available on a lot of brands around the turn of the century and I always thought it would be a good sturdy solution to what was available at the time. I'm thrilled Northfield's attention to detail is able to make the design more widely available.”
Details:
Solid brass
Satin Nickel plated and machine engraved
Hinged cover plate lined with felt and additional triangular felt under the strings.
Screw closure to ensure proper dampening
Weight: 2.2oz (62g)
Designed to work as an upgrade to any Northfield S-Series mandolin. Features the same hole spacing as our standard cast tailpiece. Some adjustments may be required. Professional installation recommended.
Each tailpiece marked with its own unique serial number.
Includes screws for attaching.
The Tailpiece Guide
Cast Tailpiece—*Direct Replacement for our Gilchrist Tailpieces.
*Some adjustments may be required. Professional installation is recommended.
Gilchrist Tailpiece—*Direct Replacement for our Cast Tailpiece.
Find the Gilchrist style tailpiece, currently, on our Big Mon & all of our Artist models, including the Artist 4th Gen.
Note: Big Mon and Artist Series from 2019 and previous years— “Master Models” (2016-2019) are excluded as the majority were fitted with the James Tailpiece.
Designed to work as an upgrade to any Northfield S-Series mandolin. Features the same hole spacing as our standard cast tailpiece.
The Calhoun & S Series models are all outfitted with our Cast Tailpiece.
*Some adjustments may be required. Professional installation is recommended.
James Tailpiece—*Direct replacement for Nugget Tailpieces.
Big Mon and Artist Series from 2019 and previous years— “Master Models” (2016-2019).
*Some adjustments may be required. Professional installation is recommended.
Nugget Tailpiece—*Direct replacement for James Tailpieces.
The Nugget Tailpiece offers a slightly warmer and rounder tone as compared to the larger modern tailpieces like our Gilchrist line and James designs.
Dive deeper into our Nugget story—check out our Field Notes with Nugget.
You can find this style Tailpiece on our Model M, Model M+, A5 Special, & Archtop Octave Mandolins.
*Some adjustments may be required. Professional installation is recommended.
To determine your Model’s “Make Year” see the Serial Number on your Mando’s inner label. The first two digits represent the year made. For example, a Big Mon: B19XXXX, means the year made is 2019.
For more information, if you have further questions or concerns, or looking for an installation video—Please check out our Email on TAILPIECE UPGRADES. If you have further questions or concerns reach out to us at info@northfieldinstruments.com
