Bridge Pin Won't Stay Down

[Gato]

I decided to restring my new Fender Kingman acoustic/electric bass today. I made sure I had light gauge strings (.045-100) to avoid any warping issues.

I got no further than trying to replace the G string. As soon as the new string gets halfway tuned the bridge pin pops out of its hole. I confirmed that the slot in the bridge pin is facing toward the tuning pegs, tried again. And again. No matter how carefully I seat the pin and how cautiously I wind the string with the tuning peg, long before it gets near "G" in tuning, the bridge pin pops out and I have to start all over again.

I've restrung my acoustic guitars dozens of times and they all have bridge pins... never seen this before. This is my first acoustic bass, though. Is there something obvious that I'm missing?

 

[voodoobassist]

The ball on the string end is catching the pin most likely. The fix is to put a slight bend in the string right before the ball end. Then insert the string with the bend facing towards the neck. That should keep it from catching the pin and pulling itself out. Keeping your finger on the pin and exerting enough pressure to keep it in place as you tune up should help as well.

 

[Turnaround]

Here's a visual of what the previous poster talks about. It's for guitar, but the same principle applies.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

A few more pics about the subject.

Credits for the original posters, I just found 'em on the 'net some time ago.

BTW, make sure that Your pins are in good condition. A deformed pin causes the hardwood plate to start chipping and wearing, so at some point You'll need to add a bead or a washer on the string, and eventually to replace the plate.

Regards
Sam

 

[HeavyDuty]

I decided to restring my new Fender Kingman acoustic/electric bass today. I made sure I had light gauge strings (.045-100) to avoid any warping issues.

I got no further than trying to replace the G string. As soon as the new string gets halfway tuned the bridge pin pops out of its hole. I confirmed that the slot in the bridge pin is facing toward the tuning pegs, tried again. And again. No matter how carefully I seat the pin and how cautiously I wind the string with the tuning peg, long before it gets near "G" in tuning, the bridge pin pops out and I have to start all over again.

I've restrung my acoustic guitars dozens of times and they all have bridge pins... never seen this before. This is my first acoustic bass, though. Is there something obvious that I'm missing?

Funny seeing you here.

As the others said, it's just a matter of getting the string balls positioned properly.

 

[Gato]

I had the wrong idea entirely about how to work the bridge pin and string combo.
Doing it the RIGHT way took no time at all.

 

[JTE]

Yep, the pin only holds the ball against the bridge plate to keep things from popping out. And do not force the pins in hard. Lots of instruments wind up with cracks running between the pin holes from people forcing the pins in when they shouldn't.

John