One thing which I think all bassists and luthiers agree upon is that there are a whole lot of poor endpin sockets in the world.
The pin can slip. The thumb screw can strip. The fit into the bottom block can be poor.
Endpin assemblies whose pins don't have a threaded point.
Available in either carbon steel tube with 1mm wall or solid hickory. Other materials available upon request.
At 1.5 kg (3 lbs.) it is the lightest and most practical bass stool on the planet.
Assembly required. You need to insert three machine screws through the seat into the legs, and tighten two screws in the footrest, but this takes less than a minute. Well worth the effort if you are commuting via public transport or have a long walk.
Order your personal height preference. Must be between 63 - 81 cm (25" - 32")
As you see, you can place the legs in your bow pouch or hang them from your backpack. The legs section alone only weighs 750g (1.5 lbs.) so won't impact carrying comfort. The seat and footrest can go in the music pouch or in your backpack.
Although very light, it is also very sturdy and stable. A 260 lb. neighbor tried it and found it structurally sound.
The drawback? Since it is so light it does have a tendancy to skate across the floor or fall over. If you are used to sitting on an orchestra stool and have to get up consantly to turn pages, then there will be a slight learning curve. I needed only minutes to adjust, but you will need to be cautious in the first days.
The first models had a solid bamboo plywood seat. Many customers found it a bit hard for a long rehearsal. Now the seat comes with an EDPM foam pad by default. If you have the original solid wood seat and don't like it, an exchange can be arranged.
The biggest innovation of the RobPin is the "Bottom Block Rest" which takes on most of the bass's weight. This eliminates most of the typical stresses on the socket, bottom block, and pin.
As reviewed on TalkBass
As reviewed on Double Bass HQ
Once you have it adjusted to your preference, you only slip it in and out of the socket when you are packing and unpacking the bass. When detached, it might even fit into the accessory pocket of your bag! The set screw in your socket needn't even be especially tight. The weight of the bass goes onto the "Bottom Block Rest", keeping the bracket from turning.
The RobPin comes with three interchangeable rods of different lengths, giving it a good range of height adjustment. The angle of the pin going to the floor can be set at 25°, 35°, or 45°. If your endpin is not 10mm, then adapters are available. If it doesn't come out of the socket, then you naturally need to remove the holding pin, or have your luthier do it.
More about the RobPin
Anodized aluminum. Made in Germany. 1/4" UNC thread.
Also, you can have the unthreaded shaft either the standard 1/4" diameter, or 5.1mm. The smaller shaft means that you don't need to re-drill after making the pilot hole. This simplifies installation, and likely improves accuracy.
Also, many people make the pilot hole with a 3/16" (.1875") drill. I strongly discourage this practice. A #7 drill (.201", very close to 5.1mm) or a 13/64" (.203") is standard machining practice. Since maple swells with humidity I recommend a 5.2mm (.205") pilot hole, and have drill bits available.
This clamp is an improvement over an existing idea. A luthier friend has been bugging me for years to develop this, but it was not until I used one that I understood how useful they are. The back plate turns 9° left or right, but holds a right angle in the vertical axis. Made of extremely hard Bamboo plywood with stainless screw and rods, and the 1.5mm silicone pads are non-stick and easy to keep clean. 26cm maximum opening. The advantage over spool clamps is that they don't twist when tightening, conform to the tapers, and cover a wider area, so you get a seam closed way faster than before!
Borrowing elements from Matthew Tucker, I incorporated the tilting jaw from my original clamp into a simple single screw design. The real innovation though is the slip wheel. Instead of having to prepare the finger nut position, this wheel nut slides over the threads quickly and you only need to make a few tightening turns.
This is far and away the fastest closing clamp that has ever existed.
Aluminum slip wheels available separately in M6 and M8 screw size.
A clever idea from Jonas Lohse. It allows you to close top cracks in places where conventional clamps don't want to stay in place.
In metric countries you can just buy the M5 screw rod at your hardware store, allowing me to ship a very small package. For North America I can include it. To save on shipping I made up some internally threaded connectors so that I can ship shorter lengths which can be joined together.
For assembly you want to first thread the M5 rods into the side holes in the ferrules and then push the M6 cap screws though the plastic plate and firmly tighten them to the M5 rods so that they won't rotate. Next you cut the aquarium PVC tubing to length and slide it on. Then you bend the rod to accommodate the arching. Don't worry. It is quite obvious once the parts are on the workbench! 😉
I now make pulleys especially for extension builders. They use an Igus™ plastic sleeve bearing which has a 350 lb. static load rating. Stocked sizes are 13, 16, 21, and 25mm. All are 5mm thick and the included shaft is 6mm.
All pulleys work for strings up to 1/8" diameter. This includes almost all Long Es except Oliv, Labella, or most Nylon tape wound strings. If you want to use a thicker string, I can adjust the groove radius to your spec.
This cable/clamp system has been designed to maximize flexibility and strength while minimizing bulk and weight. The cable is 133 strand 1/16" (1.6mm) super-flexible stainless aircraft cable with a nylon coating. Break strength is 480lb. (218kg). Typical installed weight is 10 grams. The aluminum collar is 3/8" (9.5mm) diameter. A 1/2" (12.5mm) collar is also available for cables up to 3/32" (2.5mm).
Please tell me what country you are in.
