I think I did something bad...

[Tony F]

The endpin on my bass was impossibly tight when I bought it, so much so that to extend the pin I would need to lay the bass on its side, brace the lower bout against my knees, and pull on the endpin with pliers and both hands.

So, really tight then. Not bent, just too tight.

One one occasion I managed to pull the whole endpin assembly out of the bass by about an inch or so before the thing moved, which of course dragged the tailpiece wires off the saddle and all kinds of bad stuff. It did give me the idea though, to remove the endpin assembly entirely (this time deliberately and carefully, with the bridge removed). Once removed, I hammed the endpin out of the wooden plug and reached for my drill!

I found a drillbit with a snug fit in the hole, and reamed the hole out ever so slightly. Now of course the endpin is ridiculously loose, and rattles like demon when I hit certain notes. With the endpin extended three notches or so I can move the bass from side to side, and it clunks as it rocks on the endpin.

Grrrr!

So clearly I've done a very bad thing, and I need to do something about it. Is the answer to plug the hole and redrill it, or to replace the whole endpin assembly? And if the latter, is the taper on the plug at a consistent standard angle, or is the bottom block on the bass reamed to specifically fit any given endpin assembly?

Cheers,

Tony

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Tony F

The endpin on my bass was impossibly tight when I bought it, so much so that to extend the pin I would need to lay the bass on its side, brace the lower bout against my knees, and pull on the endpin with pliers and both hands.

So, really tight then. Not bent, just too tight.

One one occasion I managed to pull the whole endpin assembly out of the bass by about an inch or so before the thing moved, which of course dragged the tailpiece wires off the saddle and all kinds of bad stuff. It did give me the idea though, to remove the endpin assembly entirely (this time deliberately and carefully, with the bridge removed). Once removed, I hammed the endpin out of the wooden plug and reached for my drill!

I found a drillbit with a snug fit in the hole, and reamed the hole out ever so slightly. Now of course the endpin is ridiculously loose, and rattles like demon when I hit certain notes. With the endpin extended three notches or so I can move the bass from side to side, and it clunks as it rocks on the endpin.

Grrrr!

So clearly I've done a very bad thing, and I need to do something about it. Is the answer to plug the hole and redrill it, or to replace the whole endpin assembly? And if the latter, is the taper on the plug at a consistent standard angle, or is the bottom block on the bass reamed to specifically fit any given endpin assembly?

Cheers,

Tony

Sorry to hear of your plight but I'll bet this is an example of what's called one-trial learning. That is, I bet you won't be doing that again! Get thee to a luthier. Some endpin collars are larger than others and, depending on what size you already have, you may be just fine and the luthier may actually have to ream out the opening a bit. That's usually not done with a drill!

Tight endpins can actually be the result of poor humidity control. What kind of bass do you have and what do you do to control temperature and humidity?

[Phil Rowan]

The answer is: a luthier.

[Tony F]

Originally Posted by drurb

Sorry to hear of your plight but I'll bet this is an example of what's called one-trial learning. That is, I bet you won't be doing that again! Get thee to a luthier. Some endpin collars are larger than others and, depending on what size you already have, you may be just fine and the luthier may actually have to ream out the opening a bit. That's usually not done with a drill!

Tight endpins can actually be the result of poor humidity control. What kind of bass do you have and what do you do to control temperature and humidity?

You're right, never going there again! And it's so annoying, it's exactly the kind of stupid thing that I try to avoid. There's nothing so scary to a professional as an enthusiastic amateur!

The humidity aspect is interesting, but I suspect may not be the deciding factor. I've owned the bass for about 18 months, and the endpin was horribly tight when I bought it (the previous owner commented on it). Since then the bass has spent half its life living in the basement (with a dehumidifier running half the time), and half its life upstairs in the living room. The endpin has been consistently unpleasant in summer and winter.

I think the word we're looking for is "cheap" - the bass is a Romanian ply built in September 2004. The label says "Leon Aubert R-21".

Cheers,

Tony

[vejesse]

Here's a cheap and effective fix: Take out the whole endpin assembly. On the side of the wooden endpin plug opposite the collar drill a 5/8" counterbore 5/8" deep. Cut a piece of wine cork to fit that hole nicely and re drill the hole. Between the set screw and the cork securing the rod it probably won't rattle.

[Bass Barrister]

I don't know who does your work, but I have a friend living out there (Roscoe) who took his bass to Asher Violin Shop to get his stuck end pin loosened and was very happy with the work.

I don't know how far Sycamore is from Rockford, but our own Martin Sheridan has moved there.

If you want to take a ride towards Chicago along I-90, you can check out Cassandra Strings (Dundee?). Of course, there are several places in and around Chicago itself wh can help you out.

[Tony F]

Originally Posted by Bass Barrister

I don't know who does your work, but I have a friend living out there (Roscoe) who took his bass to Asher Violin Shop to get his stuck end pin loosened and was very happy with the work.

I don't know how far Sycamore is from Rockford, but our own Martin Sheridan has moved there.

If you want to take a ride towards Chicago along I-90, you can check out Cassandra Strings (Dundee?). Of course, there are several places in and around Chicago itself wh can help you out.

I have had Tom Asher do a few things to my bass. He fitted the bridge adjusters and reshaped the bridge wings to take the Underwood pickup. He's clearly passionate about his work and amazingly talented, but I always got the impression he didn't like working on basses because of the amount of space they take up in his workshop.

I was on the verge of taking the bass in there for a complete setup anyway, but now I'll have to 'fess up and tell him I was an idiot...

I do like the cork idea though, thanks vejesse!

[wineaux]

Tony,

An Aubert was my first bass. I looked at two of them, side by side, and both endpins were stuck! I paid $300 for a new endpin, a new bridge with adjusters and dressing the fingerboard. It was perfectly serviceable after that -- and yours should be, too, when it comes back from the luthier.

Good luck.

[Bass Barrister]

Tony,

I'v not had any personal dealings with the Asher shop and was relaying information from my friend who lives in that area. If you don't fee comfortable there, there's Cassandra Thuneman at Cassandra Strings in Algonquin (I said Dundee earlier). A couple of the Chicago luthiers I know speak highly of her work and two of my friends just bought their son's first decent violin from her shop and were very pleased.

Good luck.

[Martin Sheridan]

Tony,
I just came back up to Sycamore from Mexico, where do I need to say, it is much sunnier and warmer than here. But family duty has called and I'm happy to be back in the world.
Be glad to help you out. You'll need the hole re-reamed and obviously an endpin that doesn't stick. Give me a shout or pm...glad to help out. Phone is 815-508-0142.

[Tony F]

Martin, thanks for your offer of help, that's much appreciated and I may take you up on that on a later date.

In the meantime I took the bass in to Asher last night, as his workshop is less than two miles from my house and I could call in with the bass on the way home from work.

He's going to work on the endpin by plugging and re-drilling the wood, and he said he's going to use some kind of material (can't remember what it's called) that he uses for the cheaper bow tips. It's like an ebony-lite stuff, and it sounded weird and kind of "carbon fibre"ish, but he seemed to think it was the best way to go.

While we're at it, we're going to lower the bridge slightly and do some neck work. The fingerboard has started to lift away from the neck at the bottom end, and with this reduced support he's noticed a slight forward bend in the neck itself. The front surface of the neck under the fingerboard is going to be lightly planed to lower the angle of the projected bridge height, and he's going to reduce some of the excessive scoop in the fingerboard. By the time everything is back together we'll have a lower bridge, a straighter neck, and strings that will be easier to play. Oh and reducing the string height at the nut too.

Finally he's going to remove one of the two soundposts (really!) and set the bass up properly with emphasis on playing jazz. This is really not an expensive bass, but I think we'll come close to getting the best out of it with these changes.

He always says that his bass customers get the best service, 'cos he likes to get the work done immediately and free up the bench space. He took the bass in at 4:00pm yesterday, and was going to start work on it the same day!

I'll keep you posted when we get the bass back, he said he should be done in a couple of days...

Cheers,

Tony