All that music on Sunday inspired me to try and make a portable endpin for my Montagnana cello…again. I remembered the 3/8” steel rod from Home Depot was too thick. For reference, I brought it along with the bent metal endpin rod that fits to the ACE Hardware at Westgate.
The staff at ACE were very friendly. A Mexican man named Robert was assigned to help me find the proper rod. After some careful measuring, he determined the rod that fits was 5/16”. We found an extremely similar smooth rod that was 5/16”. Unfortunately, it was 3’. The body of a typical 4/4 cello is around 30” so three feet was too much.
I thought about using a wooden rod, but upon testing, the 5/16” ones were way too flimsy. My only available option was a 2’ threaded 5/16” metal rod. Traditionally, cello endpins are smooth rods, but a threaded option should work.
Happy to say, it did. For $3.27 I was able to have an endpin that can be carried inside the cello as well as have the option to easily switch between something bent (aka Rostropovich style) and straight (aka Yo-Yo Ma style).
For comparison, here are the prices I was quoted from the local violin shop: $80 installation + endpin, $150 installation + bendable endpin, $40 installation alone. (To be fair, the only endpins they were offering were carbon fiber.)
PS: contrary to before, so far playing with a straight endpin feels better
