The sound of a violin may be affected by the weight of the tailpiece as well as by its length. Some of our clients are looking for lightness others for the heaviest wood so we have included this comparative measure of typical samples of various woods. The tailpiece designs are approximately as follows in weight terms:
Lightest to Heaviest,
French II
English I
English II, French
| Wood Selection | Needs colouring after fitting? | Relative Weight | Colour |
| African Blackwood | no | 3.3 | slightly brown black |
| Cocobolo | no | 2.8 | quite dark red brown |
| Ebony | no | 2.6 | black |
| European Boxwood | yes (method here) | 2.5 | Nitric stained colour, darkens with ammonia |
| Rosewood | no | 2.4 | dark chocolate |