shoulder rests and rubber compounds and friction

Edited: August 20, 2020, 7:32 AM · I've got a Hidersine Maesbury ($20) and a Chinese copy of it ($10) and a Bon Musica. I hate the Bon Musica, but its rubber has a much higher coefficient of friction than the other two, which is good, so I've been experimenting. I glued some chamois leather to the Chinese one (although I was too dumb to make sure the nap was in the right direction). I've also got a car sponge which has a lot of friction, and I could slice it finely and try it.

Anyone met this problem or tried anything like this or got any other suggestions for high friction materials? I think stripping the Bon Musica would be too drastic, before a joker suggests that.

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Andrew Hsieh

Edited: August 19, 2020, 5:05 AM · My Mach One shoulder rest has a leather pad that I find doesn't provide enough friction. I've had some success attaching thin cosmetic sponges to it with rubber bands. (Not the double-thick ones that are sometimes sold at violin shops -- I use the regular-thickness ones that can be bought in 20-packs for a few dollars in the cosmetics section of local stores, because I only need them for friction, and actually want to avoid adding height.)

Gordon Shumway

August 19, 2020, 5:10 AM · I confess I went straight for Superglue on the Chinese copy, but if it's a failure, I can remove all or some of the rubber from that and redo it, not a problem.

Andrew Hsieh

Edited: August 19, 2020, 5:16 AM · By the way, when you say "rubber" you're referring to the pad and not the feet, I assume? I'm never entirely sure what "rubber" means in British English, aside from knowing that an eraser (US) is called a rubber in the UK.

Gordon Shumway

August 19, 2020, 5:18 AM · Yes, sorry, the pad.
Fwiw, I hate the Bon Musica's feet, but the Hidersine's are lovely!

Andrew Hsieh

Edited: August 19, 2020, 5:19 AM · For me the benefit of using rubber bands is that I can move the cosmetic sponges around on the shoulder rest. Because of a chronic shoulder injury the last two years (recently re-injured in a car accident), I've been changing my posture and viola hold a lot, so I only attach two of the sponges to my shoulder rest and shift them around as needed.

Also, it's easier to replace the sponges when they get dirty or overly compressed.

Gordon Shumway

Edited: August 20, 2020, 2:13 AM · I discovered that Gorilla Glue is not a good idea, unless you spread it very evenly!
I applied a line of it the length of the rest, and it expanded by four or five times its volume into a rock-hard ridge.

Charles Zacks

August 20, 2020, 6:03 AM · This would be a good application for contact cement. Apply to both sides, let it dry, aim carefully - (there’s no second chance).

Gordon Shumway

Edited: August 20, 2020, 8:09 AM · I've removed the original rubber pad and the sponge I had glued to it and binned them, and now I have used a layer of leather glue to bond chamois leather directly to the wood. I'll check it tomorrow when it has had 24 hours to set.
And I got some cheap cosmetics sponges from Amazon, just in case.

Gordon Shumway

Edited: August 20, 2020, 6:36 AM · Good old-fashioned rubber cement or Cow Gum had a lot going for them.
Also, when I worked in student journalism we had spray cans of glue, weak for repositioning and strong for final setting. These would be useful for chamois, but I haven't seen the like for 40 years. Maybe I can find them on Amazon, but no-one publishes like that any more.

3M Spraymount may be what I'm thinking of. And of course there are hundreds of types of spray adhesive and I'm back to being confused again.

Gordon Shumway

Edited: August 20, 2020, 7:33 AM · There are some velvets that are heavily napped, or corduroy may be best of all, AndrewH, in case you hadn't thought of it. (I assumed napping had to be directional, but it seems not)

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shoulder rests and rubber compounds and friction

Replies (10)

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