Help with end pin jack install on an Eastman

[Mattg]

I've been contemplating installing an internal K & K Twinspot on my 615 and really like the idea of using the integrated end pin jack setup. I'm wondering if there are compatibility issues with the cast tail piece. I'm most concerned that I'll need to widen the end pin hole. Does anyone have any experience with this?

[Michael Lewis]

Two ways to get it done: ream out the hole to the size of the jack, or use one of those specialty end pin jacks that fit the tapered hole. For the latter you will not be able to use a standard 1/4" phone jack in the mandolin, you will have to keep your own custom cord.

[Paul Hostetter]

I'm most concerned that I'll need to widen the end pin hole.

Count on it. It's not the end of the world, easily reversible. It will turn your mandolin into a microphone, but you can wrestle with that on your own. The only jack to contemplate (which usually comes supplied with the K&K) is fed from inside and tightens outside.



This is Fishman's switchable iteration. Switchcraft makes a simpler variant that's cheaper.

And you will need a special reamer to get the hole done safely:

[Mattg]

Paul

Thanks for the reply. I guess I was worried about how to ream out such a thick cast tail piece.

one question though. What do you mean by "It will turn your mandolin into a microphone"? Not sure what your point is.

thanks

[Paul Hostetter]

What kind of cast tailpiece is this? Is it the stock Eastman that's like a Weber?



If so, you might want to enlarge the opening through the brass with a round file, with the tailpiece off the mandolin of course, and then finish the hole through the wood with the power reamer.

[Paul Hostetter]

In my experience, pickups on mandolins are extremely 'hot' - they pick up the sound of the mandolin, and the buttons on the player's shirt, the pickguard squeaking, etc. Often the person playing it can sing or speak and be heard through the PA without a vocal mic. Despite this, some people can still make it work anyway.

[Mattg]

Paul

What to you like for amplification?

[Paul Hostetter]

For mandolin? Nothing—but for stage amplification, a simple good mic on a stand run through a PA that's supposed to be for human voice, engineered by someone with good ears and a brain.

[MandolinJennifer]

Hello, I see that you have answered some questions about installing end pin jacks, and that you are a luthier. I recently purchased a Fishman M-200 for my Michael Kelly mandolin, and I've had nothing but trouble. It won't stay on, and it has been altered by my luthier many times in attempt to make it work. After giving up on the M-200, I contacted Fishman, and they said they can put an end pin jack or bullet jack in. I would like to go with the end pin jack, but my luthier has never put one in a mandolin. Fishman said they will do it for me, but the shipping is much more than I want to pay. My question is: since my luthier has never put an end pin jack in a mandolin before, do you think I should ship it to Fishman and have someone who's installed them many times do it? I just don't want to spend the extra money shipping it that I don't have. I've already invested an extra $100 in this jack. Thanks

[Paul Hostetter]

The important part of the M-200 is the bridge, but those carpenter jacks are indeed a nuisance. In order to run the wire from the bridge to a normal endpin jack, you have to route the wire to the inside of the instrument. This can be done, of course, but it involves either drilling a little hole in the top, or running a longer wire over to an F-hole and down inside and then back into the jack.

If you run the wire from the bridge directly back under the tailpiece, you can drill a hole under the tailpiece but just ahead of the endblock. This is the simplest and cleanest, but it means drilling a hole, which many are loathe to do.

The supplied wire isn't very long, so you have to splice it to make it work using the f-hole route. There are other problems with the longer wire needed to go from the base of the bridge and over to the soundhole and then inside: the wire is hot and picks up sound. The more wire you have, the noisier the thing becomes.

A third solution is to mount a jack to the base of the tailpiece, just below the strap button, and run the wire back and under the tailpiece. The clip to hold the jack looks like this:



It should mount like this, with that clip using one of the screwholes already in the tailpiece:



The cord goes down to the floor, out of the way. This is the least invasive way to mount a jack.

[...and Master of None]

It should mount like this, with that clip using one of the screwholes already in the tailpiece:

The cord goes down to the floor, out of the way. This is the least invasive way to mount a jack.

Thank you, thank you, thank you - and goodbye and good riddance carpenter jack!