Endpin fill and re-drill/ream

[Ken Smith]

I have seen many an Endpin unit socket shimmed with anything from wood to cork to sandpaper to make it fit better. The angle of the hole may be just fine. Your problem might be the difference between the taper of the hole and the unit itself. The string tension will naturally pull it forward and make it appear to be at an angle. I would guess that a slight re-fit/shim of the socket or bore itself would be the best way to go but I am just guessing blind. Pictures maybe? We are shooting in the dark here.

[Jeff Moote]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

I have seen many an Endpin unit socket shimmed with anything from wood to cork to sandpaper to make it fit better. The angle of the hole may be just fine. Your problem might be the difference between the taper of the hole and the unit itself. The string tension will naturally pull it forward and make it appear to be at an angle. I would guess that a slight re-fit/shim of the socket or bore itself would be the best way to go but I am just guessing blind. Pictures maybe? We are shooting in the dark here.

Good idea - see pics below. My new pin (www.n-pin.com) is shown there too.

I don't think it's string tension pulling it since the angle is to one side (how odd!). It could be a matter of mismatched taper or some sort of shim, but I've pulled it out in the past and it didn't seem unusual - just not straight.

(click photos for larger)

[Jeff Moote]

Just after taking those pictures I took the old endpin assembly out to find that it is considerably smaller than its replacement. Can the new hole be reamed straight without plugging the existing hole?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Jeff Moote

Just after taking those pictures I took the old endpin assembly out to find that it is considerably smaller than its replacement. Can the new hole be reamed straight without plugging the existing hole?

I would think so. It's done by hand so the Luthier has control of the tool. But this is providing there is enough room to fit the new within the old!

[Jeff Moote]

Well, I should be able to tell you tomorrow what we end up doing.

[Ken McKay]

Here is a tip for reaming a straight endpin. Put a looooong handle on the reamer like this http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/FieldTrips/HK/hk.html

[Jeff Moote]

I got the bass back from my luthier today. He did a fine job, and was simply able to make the hole inside the old one and straight, as the N-PIN fixture is much larger. He charged for 2h45 which I think is fair.



By the way, in case anyone is in the Kitchener/Waterloo or Stratford, ON area and needs any work done I wouldn't hesitate to go to Henry Riedstra, who did this work for me.