I just ordered a new endpin for my bass, but the hole in the bass is a little to small. Approximately how much should I expect to pay to have the hole reamed out a little to fit it? I'm calling around, but wondering your thoughts.
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Double Bass Cost of reaming endpin hole?
- Thread starter krfoss
- Start date
"I believe the endpin collar hole in the tail block is tapered, so you have to get a reamer of the correct taper."
Tapered reamer: tapered reamer
I hate to pay someone else to do something that I can screw up all by myself.
Tapered reamer: tapered reamer
I hate to pay someone else to do something that I can screw up all by myself.
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The hole in the end block for the endpin plug is not a straight ream. It's angled with the small part of the hole the deepest in the end block.
Good reliable double bass end pin reamers of the proper angle for double bass cost in the neighborhood of $400. Here's one that Gollihur Music offers.
They may sometimes be found on eBay and other sources relatively cheaply, but they may not have the right angle, they may be low quality and may not work for more than one or two uses.
Another option in this case is attaching aggressive adhesive sandpaper to the outside of the end pin plug in question and using that assembly as a reamer to "open up" the existing hole so that it acquires the proper angle for this endpin. Of course this means you also manage the string tension, the tailpiece and tailpiece gut and all other setup related issues (including a fallen sound post if that happens).
If it were me in this case, I'd find a DB luthier who has a reamer and have the complete job done right.
Good reliable double bass end pin reamers of the proper angle for double bass cost in the neighborhood of $400. Here's one that Gollihur Music offers.
They may sometimes be found on eBay and other sources relatively cheaply, but they may not have the right angle, they may be low quality and may not work for more than one or two uses.
Another option in this case is attaching aggressive adhesive sandpaper to the outside of the end pin plug in question and using that assembly as a reamer to "open up" the existing hole so that it acquires the proper angle for this endpin. Of course this means you also manage the string tension, the tailpiece and tailpiece gut and all other setup related issues (including a fallen sound post if that happens).
If it were me in this case, I'd find a DB luthier who has a reamer and have the complete job done right.
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About 12 years ago I paid Bill Merchant about $100 including a nice Ulsa endpin that was about $80 retail at the time. The reamer is $300 so the cost can be recouped slowly.
Matthew Tucker
Commercial User
- Aug 21, 2002
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- Owner: Bresque Basses, Sydney Basses and Cellos
silly advice to buy a reamer for just one Endpin. I would say that it is a luthier minimum charge scenario. it takes very little time at all and you'll be paying for maybe half an hour Max, unless there's something else wrong with your bass.
if you had bought your Endpin through your luthier, he or she may have installed it for nothing. Just saying.
Matthew Tucker
Commercial User
- Aug 21, 2002
- 2,685
- 380
- 6,011
- Disclosures
- Owner: Bresque Basses, Sydney Basses and Cellos
"I believe the endpin collar hole in the tail block is tapered, so you have to get a reamer of the correct taper."
Tapered reamer: tapered reamer
I hate to pay someone else to do something that I can screw up all by myself.
you'd be guaranteed to screw it up yourself in this scenario because the tapered reamers you have linked to are all totally incorrect for that job. Enjoy!
Mr Tucker.
My post about tapered reamers was merely to represent that such tools exist. I was not trying to point someone to a specific tool in that search.
I am an old geezer who has collected a gigantic. collection of tools, (many of them very specialized) and have made great use of them for purposes that lie outside of my regular profession. Many skills and capabilities are really not that difficult to learn and do if one takes the time to learn. I take great satisfaction in doing things for myself. Not because I am too cheap to pay an expert to do it, but because I enjoy buying the tools required, and learning the techniques to use them, and doing things for myself.
I fully understand that specialized tools exist for many tasks.
You say that I would be guaranteed to screw it up myself makes no sense because if you or someone else can do it, I bet that I can do it as well.
My post was only meant to offer a suggestion that the OP may be able to do a fairly simple task by themselves. If it was my bass I would expect it to take less than a half an hour with simple tools I have in my shop.
My post about tapered reamers was merely to represent that such tools exist. I was not trying to point someone to a specific tool in that search.
I am an old geezer who has collected a gigantic. collection of tools, (many of them very specialized) and have made great use of them for purposes that lie outside of my regular profession. Many skills and capabilities are really not that difficult to learn and do if one takes the time to learn. I take great satisfaction in doing things for myself. Not because I am too cheap to pay an expert to do it, but because I enjoy buying the tools required, and learning the techniques to use them, and doing things for myself.
I fully understand that specialized tools exist for many tasks.
You say that I would be guaranteed to screw it up myself makes no sense because if you or someone else can do it, I bet that I can do it as well.
My post was only meant to offer a suggestion that the OP may be able to do a fairly simple task by themselves. If it was my bass I would expect it to take less than a half an hour with simple tools I have in my shop.
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This is an interesting topic for me.
The reason I know about the proper reamer for installing a DB endpin plugs is that I've had to research it for myself...
My Alcoa's endpin plug, which today is probably the only original piece of wood remaining on this DB, is glued into the aluminum "end block" socket with a horribly aggressive green aeronautic adhesive. This was done long before I ever owned the DB. The endpin plug itself is cracked and looking pretty bad, but still functionally intact having somehow survived to this date. But I know and am prepared to have to replace it one day...
In order to do that, because it is more or less permanently glued in, I'll have to drill out most of the old endpin plug, and then ream out what is left with the proper angle and taper, just enough that a new modern endpin plug will fit in its place.
Because the aeronautic glue is so nasty, and also because of the chance of hitting aluminum in the process, I can't ask a luthier to do this work and possibly ruin their reamer. So I'll try the adhesive sandpaper on the new endpin plug trick first, and failing that, order a proper reamer for myself. Either way, I'm not looking forward to this project. The old endpin plug, along with a short endpin to work with my height, has lasted with me for going on 7 years and I'm just hoping it might outlast me.
The reason I know about the proper reamer for installing a DB endpin plugs is that I've had to research it for myself...
My Alcoa's endpin plug, which today is probably the only original piece of wood remaining on this DB, is glued into the aluminum "end block" socket with a horribly aggressive green aeronautic adhesive. This was done long before I ever owned the DB. The endpin plug itself is cracked and looking pretty bad, but still functionally intact having somehow survived to this date. But I know and am prepared to have to replace it one day...
In order to do that, because it is more or less permanently glued in, I'll have to drill out most of the old endpin plug, and then ream out what is left with the proper angle and taper, just enough that a new modern endpin plug will fit in its place.
Because the aeronautic glue is so nasty, and also because of the chance of hitting aluminum in the process, I can't ask a luthier to do this work and possibly ruin their reamer. So I'll try the adhesive sandpaper on the new endpin plug trick first, and failing that, order a proper reamer for myself. Either way, I'm not looking forward to this project. The old endpin plug, along with a short endpin to work with my height, has lasted with me for going on 7 years and I'm just hoping it might outlast me.
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I'll chuck the collet into a lathe and turn it down to match the hole. Much more cost effective than replacing the block for the next end pin that is too small.
I agree, but that nasty adhesive might gum up the reamer enough to diminish accuracy, and I'd prefer not to lose aluminum during this process -- I can't imagine having to rebuild the hole in the integral aluminum "end block".
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Yes but which taper is used? Jacobs (9 different sizes), Morse (9 different sizes), Brown and Sharpe (18 different sizes), Jarno (19 different sizes), or something else altogether? Do you have the capability to measure a tapered ID and determine what taper it's closest to? Have you priced a good tapered reamer from MSC Supply or similar? How does the cost of that tool that you might use once compare with the cost of paying an expert an hour's labor to do the job right with a known correct tool and to fix anything that might crop up?"I believe the endpin collar hole in the tail block is tapered, so you have to get a reamer of the correct taper."
Tapered reamer: tapered reamer
I hate to pay someone else to do something that I can screw up all by myself.
This comes with the strong possibility of making the hole ot of round, or hourglass shaped, so the end pin will NEVER fit. The person who's used to doing precision work can do the job this way. I wouldn't want my first foray into using sandpaper and a mandrel to form a precision hole to be the end pin hole of my expensive DB.
The concept actually came from a well regarded luthier. The same possible issues exist using a hand reamer.
Btw, the specs for the reamer in question are:
Taper 1/17, diameter 23.0/36.0 mm, length 221 mm.
If you search online for those specs, they can be found from a few reliable luthier resources.
All that said, I once again endorse taking the OP's instrument to a professional DB luthier. (I wish, in good conscience, I could do so with my Alcoa DB when the time comes.)
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I have a copy of this book Machinery's Handbook to refer to as a starting point when I need to know about things like standard tapers, or other similar topics. So I do understand this kind of thing. I also have been buying tools of every sort for the last fifty-plus years, and I have no doubt that I could make a new pin fit a tapered bore, either by modifying the pin, or the bore.
I realize most people are not likely to own a collection of tools and equipment as large as mine.
I can think of at least one (or two) ways to determine what the taper of the existing bore may be if I did not already own a set of taper gages, or I did not have an appropriate gage for the task.
As a person who takes satisfaction in doing just about any task like this myself, I merely offered an idea for anyone who may be of a similar bent.
Sorry if my post ruffled any feathers.
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That's all well and good, but offering up examples of reamers that definitely will not work to someone who doesn't know how to go about deciding what needs to be bought and what needs to be done is not the giving of responsible advice.I have a copy of this book Machinery's Handbook to refer to as a starting point when I need to know about things like standard tapers, or other similar topics. So I do understand this kind of thing. I also have been buying tools of every sort for the last fifty years, and I have no doubt that I could make a new pin fit a tapered bore, either by modifying the pin, or the bore.
I realize most people are not likely to own a collection of tools and equipment as large as mine.
I can think of at least one of way to determine what the taper of the existing bore may be if I did not already own a set of taper gages, or I did not have an appropriate gage for the task.
As a person who takes satisfaction in doing just about any task like this myself, I merely offered an idea for anyone who may be of a similar bent.
Sorry if my post ruffled any feathers.
turf3,
I did not specify any particular reamer. I merely pointed out the type of tool that would be used to make a tapered bore.
Sheesh...what a grouch.
I did not specify any particular reamer. I merely pointed out the type of tool that would be used to make a tapered bore.
Sheesh...what a grouch.
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