How should I thread a string through this tailpiece?

[Blue Rondo]

After breaking a string I've found a 'better'(?) way to mount a string than I had done originally, *balls out...
Do you think this would this be a the manufacturer intended?

They sit fine, very sturdy for about two weeks now, string edges are protected. the tailpiece hangs lower with the balls hidden.

no intentional innuendo here I swear. & that sideways one isn't how it ended up, in the mounting with the balls hidden this actual picture has another idea where I had clipped some old ones off (unseen) and threaded a new string through it. All because they won't sit nicely when I thread it from behind.

[AllanAllen]

Do you think this would this be a the manufacturer intended?

No, the other way is normal. Hidden ball ends. Not that this can’t work. It’s just not the regular way.

[sgosnell]

With the strings coming out of the top, you don't need to thread the strings through the tailpiece, just insert the ball into the larger hole and pull the string tight into the slot. The reverse, the way you're showing it, puts the string against the front end of the tailpiece, which digs into the string, and may cause buzzing. Coming out of the top is the way it's supposed to be done, but it's your guitar, so you can string it however you want.

[omphalopsychos]

I think it’s social convention to conceal the balls. This look is a bit too exposed.

[icr]

I'd not even try that for fear those balls will come through the holes and make some dents in the guitar's top.

If one has ever owned a fine classical guitar and the knot came loose...

[Cunamara]

That looks like "danger! Danger! Will Robinson!"