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Thread: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

  1. #1

    Default Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    I have tried to remove the Eastman Mandolin END PIN in the Cast Aluminum Tailpiece, and have found it impossible. It must be glued in. Seems the only way is to cut it off and drill it out. Any other suggestions?

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    Cast aluminum? Are you sure?

    I'm assuming it's a wood end pin. If it's glued in hopefully they didn't use CA. Try heating it up a little and see if the glue softens. I'm sure they didn't glue it in at the factory.
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  3. #3

    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    The tailpiece Eastman uses for all models except the model 315 is cast aluminum. I have tried to remove the wooden end pin on two other Eastman's but could not. I did not want to use vice grip's , would destroy the pin.
    Thanks for the heat suggestion, I'll try that method.

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    If you're next step is to drill it out any way then you might try putting some heavy cloth around it and grabbing it with pliers and attempt to twist it gently. Stewmac sells the pins, assuming they use the same taper. I'm pretty amazed at the tailpiece. I haven't looked closely at an Eastman since I sold mine many years ago.
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    Fro stubborn end pins I use a strain relief pliers, for electronics. I know that is not a common tool most folks will have. I works well and fits nicely around the endpin with no teeth, and gives you a good grip. If you break, it, or decide to cut it off to drill it out, remember it is a tapered hole, if it is a traditional endpin.
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  6. #6

    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    Once in a while, I will need to use a claw hammer and a small wood block and remove a stubborn end pin like I would remove a nail.

    (and yes, this is known as the clawhammer technique for mandolin!)

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  8. #7

    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    Tried using pliers and cloth. Did not work, crushed the pin. I filed the stub off smooth and left it in. I felt if I could not get it out then leave it. Installed the Allen TR3 which covered part the remaining pin. Rock solid and sounds great, but so did the Eastman Tailpiece. I do not think the expense was worth the difference in sound.

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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    There is a lesson for all of us here. It has been covered many times before but it bears repeating. Please do not glue your end pin in! Nobody lives forever and your instrument will eventually belong to someone else. Then the new owner will want to remove that end pin for some reason or another and will have to deal with what you did. Ok class, let us review:

    1. It’s an end pin, a left over from traditional violin construction, where it actually had a function. Which was anchoring the violins tailpiece. Without it, pretty much everything on a violin falls apart.
    2. It is supposed to be able to come out. It is designed that way. Friction is normally enough to hold it in place. Why should it come out? To provide an easy way to visually check the interior of the instrument and, in some cases, allow tool access for certain repairs.
    3. It is NOT, repeat NOT, a strap button! No matter how many times you incorrectly refer to it as such. That doesn’t make it one! Yes, I know many of you use it that way. It it was not designed to be one.
    4. When you use the end pin as a strap button, a use for which it was not designed, you are then surprised when it slips out! So what do you do? Why you glue it in of course! I’ll teach that stupid strap button to come out! I’ll glue it so tight I’ll NEVER have to worry about it coming out again! And then, when someone else owns your instrument, and decides to replace the tailpiece, a scenario develops like what happened to the OP. Imagine how tightly that pin was glued in if it actually broke off when he applied the pliers!

    So what is the solution? There have been hundreds of threads about this, I’ll bet. There have been a number of schemes developed to turn an end pin into a reliable strap button. One of the cleverest, in my opinion, is the Weber designed knurled thumbscrew into a rubber compression nut. But for the vast majority of folks with the traditional end pin, just increasing the friction will do it. Wrap a small piece of masking tape or sandpaper around it before twisting it back in. Security will be increased but it is completely reversible.
    Don

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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    On my brand new Eastman MDO305 the ebony end pin would not come out. Tried several approaches and with vice grips finally cracked the pin. I do not know what Eastman does but the pins do not come out. Removed the tailpiece and had to carefully drill out the pin shaft. I used a bit smaller than the pin shaft diameter so as not to destroy the taper and then used a round file to remove the remainder of the ebony wood. It sure did appear to be glued in as I had to file away the ebony until I reached the tail block wood.

    I use the end pin as a strap button and it works fine for that purpose.

  12. #10

    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    End pin/strap button, huh? I think 99.99 percent of us use it as a strap button, and the other hundredth of a percent don't use a strap! Making a case for it being a holdover from violin construction may be historically accurate, but doesn't reflect current use.

    Just like Leo Fender originally designed his amps to not distort when played at normal volumes -- we see how that worked out!

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    Registered User AaronVW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    Agreed. And seeing as that is the case, are any builders these days opting to forgo the endpin all together and simply use a screwed in strap button?

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    I am amazed that Eastman would do that. If they want it that permanent just screw it on and save the trouble.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    Point taken about modern usage. But my point is, why are people surprised when it comes out, when it’s designed to do just that?

    I too am surprised to find out Eastman apparently glues them in at the factory. Can other Eastman owners verify this?

    I had a mandola once that someone installed a pickup into with a quarter inch jack/strap button, like a Switchjack. I wanted to lose the pickup and go back to acoustic but of course the end block was drilled out to accommodate the jack. So I plugged the hole with a dowel. I could have reamed a new hole for a new traditional end pin, but instead I re-mounted the tailpiece over it, and then installed an ebony strap button from Stew Mac. Still a type they don’t carry anymore, a solid ebony button with an embedded screw on the business end but no screw head visible. You just drill the appropriate hole and twist it in. Looks traditional from the outside but totally reliable, unlike the usual end pin.
    Don

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    Registered User Roger Adams's Avatar
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    Well, FWIW, I had a Eastman 515 for a while, and the end pin was not glued in. When I put a pickup in it, the end pin came out easily by hand. The one I had was built a couple of years ago, I would guess.
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    I thought the lesson for all of us that multidon was going to tell us is the tailpiece has little to do with the sound of the instrument. If it holds the strings and don't rattle it is about all a tailpiece will do.

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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    Multidon, my MD805/V had a loose end pin that came out with the strap so I assume standard Eastman practice is not to glue it in. I asked here on the forum and was given good advice about securing it with a bit of clear nail polish.
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    I thought the lesson for all of us that multidon was going to tell us is the tailpiece has little to do with the sound of the instrument. If it holds the strings and don't rattle it is about all a tailpiece will do
    That's also the moral I got from the story. Like putting on new tuners for better tone.
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    Registered User Scott Rucker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    I just took possession of an Eastman last week. After seeing this thread, i tried to pull mine out by hand. No dice.

  23. #19
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Eastman Mandolin Cast Aluminum Tailpiece END PIN.

    Eastman should look at something like this.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

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

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