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Thread: Why wooden end pins?

  1. #1
    Registered User Jonathan Peck's Avatar
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    Why finicky wooden end pins...which are basicall a fancy dowel. When I hand my mando over to somebody, the only thing I ever worry about is...is the end pin going to pull out causing my mando to fall helplessly to the ground.

    Why not a metal end pin screwed into the tail block? The tailpiece is metal, why not the end pin? Seems like a silly risk for a subtle aesthetic with possible grave consequences should the dowel decide to pull loose. I mean come on...a round piece of wood in a round hole with only friction to keep it positively attached.
    And now for today's weather....sunny, with a chance of legs

    "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." - Abraham Lincoln

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    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    Seems to have stood the test of time. The woodenness of it probably carries over from violins.
    .
    ph

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  3. #3
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by
    Why not a metal end pin screwed into the tail block? The tailpiece is metal, why not the end pin?
    Apparently Webber thinks the same... well almost the same.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

  4. #4
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    To quote Tevia, "Tradition"

  5. #5
    Hester Mandolins Gail Hester's Avatar
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    "Why wooden end pins?"

    ...because these old Loar endpins look so cool.
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    Gail Hester

  6. #6
    Registered User buddyellis's Avatar
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    But it's easy enough to make screw on ebony buttons, too. I can understand on a violin, there is the practical need of using the hole for the tailpiece pin to see inside the violin to setup the soundpost. Makes no sense, to me, to endanger expensive instruments to the whim of friction when there are other methods of doing it which would be practically aesthetically no different than the 'old way'. (IMO):D

  7. #7

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    There were at least 5 separate discussions of this topic just over 1 month ago.

    Like this

  8. #8
    Registered User f5loar's Avatar
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    If Lloyd says they are okay then that's fine by me. But remember back then they didn't use straps. Most or all sat down to pick in those mandolin orchestras. Didn't need a strap. Probably not until the country/hillbilly influence did the strap start being used and that was probably just shoe strings or hay bale rope. So that being said I would think it was a carry over from the violin which the end pin served the purpose of holding the tailpiece on. With the Gibson mandolins it just looks like it is holding it in place. And by the way they did go to plastic later on so not sure that was any better for not slipping out.

  9. #9
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (f5loar @ May 17 2007, 22:36)
    But remember back then they didn't use straps. Most or all sat down to pick in those mandolin orchestras. Didn't need a strap.
    Then why have an end pin, if you didn't plan to attach a strap? Guitar end pins (and guitars had end pins in the 19th century) were for the specific purpose of attaching a strap. I would guess the installation of end pins in certain types of mandolins -- not bowl-backs, mandolinettos, or most bent-top, flat-back mandolins -- had something to do with the desire to use a strap. Remember, some mandolinists who played seated, used a strap to position the instrument and make it less necessary for the fretting hand to support the neck.
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  10. #10

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    Most [ if not all ] modern builders in the UK don't use an end pin as such but have a screw on strap button or a strap button/pick up socket.

    Dave H
    Gibson A 1917
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  11. #11
    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
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    I also don't trust them. If you order a custom instrument and don't want one, you can just leave the tailblock unreamed and have it drilled for a guitar endpin. The good news is that even if you do already have one installed, it is easy to "bypass" and make no modifications to the instrument. You can just pull the endpin and end your stap with some rawhide laces. You can string them inside the mandolin endpin hole, pull them through the F-hole to tie a knot on them and let the knot rest against the inside of the tailblock. It's adjustable, invisible and non-slip.
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  12. #12
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    My 1964 Gibson A5 two point came with a screw and small guitar type metal strap pin. No taperd wooden plug.
    Bill P.
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  13. #13
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    The metal end pin on my guitar came unscrewed and fell off. Luckily I caught the guitar... That said, by and large I think you are correct that they are more secure. Then again, I like the look of the ebony pin, though it probably isn't worth the functional compromise.
    James

  14. #14
    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    Stew-Mac has these right now, and similar things are extremely easy to make as well.



    .
    ph

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