So I was playing a concert at a nice new college auditorium a few years ago. All the sound reinforcement gear was first rate - microphones, board, massive power amps, speaker system. I was just starting a solo when the tailgut broke. The tailpeice flew up at a high speed and whacked the spiffy condenser mic they were using on my bass. The resulting concussion seemed to lift the entire audience out of their seats. This incident has passed into legend. I still have people come up to me occasionally and say "You are the guy with the exploding bass".

That would be TERRIFYING! A friend of mine is afraid to tune his violin, lest the strings snap and "take him out." I can't even imagine a tailpiece flying up at me, pulled the kind of tension massive URB strings must have. Jesus...terrifying.


Short question -- that basically destroyed the mic, right?

It was very startling. I don't know whether the mic survived. My participation ended for the evening with the flying tailpiece.

My band hasn't played there since.

The more important question is what kind of tailgut was this? Was this one of those plastic Wittner things or was it hanger wire or aircraft cable or one of the new cords like the Schertler or Pecanic cords?

It was hanger wire. I have learned to use better.

So the hanger wire actually broke in two? Or the loop wasn't closed properly?

Same situation happened to me, only it was the tailPIECE that broke. That added ebony shrapnel to the mix! Fortunately, it happened during the dress rehearsal, so nobody was sitting in front of me. It was an awe-inspiring thing! All that tension left the bass at once and the whole thing expanded instantly.

It did, in fact, break in two. I was pretty well dead in the water at that point.

Holy cow - a tailpiece that broke! And an ebony tailpiece? Any idea what lead to that happening?

As a woodworker, I've often looked at the top of a tailpiece as an accident waiting to happen. There's not that much wood holding those string ball ends in place. If there was a flaw, a crack or something, the tailpiece twists a little bit... I can see it coming apart.

I'm guessing it's really something to see all those strings coming up at you. Hopefully I'm not wearing my best underwear that day...

Hm. Those composite tailpieces are looking more attractive all the time.

Aren't there a few guys who use no tailpiece at all? Just attached the strings to the endpin w. wires? That sounds hazardous!

having seen what a string can do when it snaps at the tuning peg on a slab (shot across the room and WHAAPPPPPPed against the far wall), i shudder to think what happens when a tailpiece fails!

I forget who said it on here, but someone was telling us about a broken TP wire that caused the TP to fly up, conk the guy on the head, and kill him. And who says playing bass is a safe, relaxing hobby? After reading that and this thread, I'm really paranoid now!

I wonder what the actual pounds of pull is on a tailpiece? It would have to be amazingly high I would think.