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| Top-quality brass endpin unit with standard-length stainless steel pin.
Have you ever given much thought to what holds your endpin up in position? Here at The Contrabass Shoppe we believe that your endpin and the unit that holds it in position is fundamental to how secure you feel when you play your instrument. Lets put this the other way round - and then you'll see exactly what I mean. How many of you have experienced the unnerving jolt and loud bang as your instrument violently drops earthwards because the endpin has slipped? What about that awful "sinking" sensation that occurs when your end pin gradually starts to slide back into its unit leaving you feeling so totally out of control? Or how about that terrible buzz - that you just cannot work out where an earth it is coming from? Don't these things always seem to happen just at those crucial moments in life - like right in the middle of a concert or audition. Come on - I know you don't like to admit to it - but it has happened to all of us at some stage or other of our career. Well - there is very good news at hand - for after giving some serious thought to the problems caused by poorly designed, poorly made end-pin equipment we boffins at The Contrabass Shoppe are absolutely delighted to offer you this superb unit and pin ensemble. Tell me about the design of the endpin unit. The design of this endpin unit takes its influence from an early English pattern that was used as standard by a large percentage of the top makers in England during the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century. These "golden" years of bass making - produced the rich heritage of basses for which England is well renowned. What we particularly like about the design of the original old English unit is the shortness in length of the part that projects out of the instrument - which means that for full-size instruments or for people who like to play with their instrument as low to the floor as possible - this is seriously good news. On our unit this measurement is only 4.0cm. What about the collar and screw? Traditionally these have been made from brass and indeed we have not been able to find a better looking, more functional material. We think that the highly polished brass fittings really set this endpin unit apart from other products on the market. With regard to the tightening screw - we've designed an gullwing shaped key that feels absolutely superb in the hand and which makes the securing and releasing of one's pin now just seem so effortless. Is that a small screw that I can see in the brass collar. What is it for? At the heart of this unit is a small spring-loaded ball-bearing mechanism that clicks into the slots of the steel pin - thus making this one of the most secure units available on the market. The small screw that is visible on the outside of the brass collar can be tightened or loosened with a small screwdriver to enable precise adjustment of the spring pressure. Obviously too much pressure will impede the free movement of the required pin length. Too little will reduce the securing capacity of the device. What about the wooden boss? The body of the unit is made from rosewood. Rosewood - is a hardwood of great beauty that in is particularly suitable for this sort of application. In comparison to ebony it is much easier to turn in a lathe, it shrinks less and has less defects and inconsistencies than ebony. What sort of lining does the unit have? Although this is a very traditional unit we have definitely moved into the twenty-first century in our efforts to eliminate the cause of most endpin vibrations and buzzes. The core of this unit is lined with a sleeve of polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) core to the unit. How does that work? It works well. The PTFE tube is bored to allow some resistance when the steel pin is adjusted to length. The "sticky" molecular make-up of PTFE moulds itself onto the steel pin and eliminates any slight gaps or sideways movement of the pin - the potential cause of vibration.
I see that the unit comes complete with The Contrabass Shoppe's Standard-length stainless-steel pin. Yes that's right - the endpin unit does come complete with the Shoppe's standard-length stainless steel pin. For full details and specs on the pin with the option to purchase online please click on the following link - Standard length stainless-steel pin - otherwise here is a summary of the pin's main advantages:
What about fitting the unit? It's highly probable that some minor adjustments to either the taper on the unit or to your instrument's existing endpin hole will be necessary. We do recommend that you have the unit fitted by your local bass restorer. It's not a big job at all. Summary. A really well designed, well made unit and pin is vital to every bass player's playing confidence. Based on a well proven "Old-English" model this hand-turned unit and pin combination really is the ultimate in both design and quality of manufacture. Tony Houska - Director of The Contrabass Shoppe and designer of the endpin unit comments 'All the instruments in The Shoppe are set-up with these units. They are nice and squat in appearance and the polished brass really exudes strength and quality. We'd expect these units to see out the next one hundred years of an instrument's life'. Stats:
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