Upright Bass Wheel Glasser solid rubber

A wheel is a convenient way to make moving your bass around a LOT easier on your back. This nicely-made wheel from Glasser has a solid rubber "tire" on a spoked, ball-bearing-ed (is that a word?) wheel. The tire is of a similar material to what's used on rollerblade wheels, so it has nice grip in the corners, and it's 6 inches in diameter, so it rolls very smoothly over minor bumps and terrain. It doesn't have a lot of "give," like a pneumatic (blow up) tire would, though - so no jumping off the curb!

Shafts for upright basses can vary in size, and often endpins are upgraded or replaced, so measure carefully - don't assume! Returns are a pain in the nether regions for everyone. However, one version of this wheel does have one special option that none of our other wheels do - a built-in foot-operated BRAKE.

So if you're playing a bluegrass festival, or you're a traveling bassist - or even, dare I say it, as a Philly-area native, a Mummer - you could even step on the brake and play the bass on the wheel, then move on to the next jam circle without a lot of fussing with endpins and such. The brake is made of a strong metal bracket and spring with a durable plastic footpad.

Just like our other wheel models, it's a NO SWIVEL WHEEL! The shaft has a flat side; this aligns with the set screw in your endpin receiver. As supplied, the flat edge faces the side. It is not adjustable/rotatable. 

I lean the neck on my shoulder, grab the bout and lean over to steer! The wheel rides on a pair of sealed ball bearings for a smooth, effortless ride.


IMPORTANT TIPS:

• You MUST measure! It's important to have the correct size to avoid damaging your endpin receiver - that's a costly replacement!
  
  
• Okay then, how do I measure? The best way is with a caliper (see example at right), which allows you to accurately measure the diameter of your existing shaft. If you don't have one, a set of standard and metric open-end wrenches can act as a gauge - use the wrenches in the various available shaft sizes to determine which one exactly fits the pin diameter. Don't have those, either? Get a piece of stiff cardstock or cardboard, and cut a notch in it. Continue to slightly widen that slot until the endpin fits perfectly - then measure the gap. Do the measurement with both inches and millimeters; as you can see, shafts are available in both metric and SAE (inches) sizes, and some of the sizes are very close.
  
  
• I don't have a metric (or SAE) ruler - now what? Check out this page for some printable rulers that might help.
  
  
• What if my endpin shaft won't come out?? Many endpins have a pin stop that prevents the shaft from being removed from the bass. In most cases you can shove the pin into the bass, retrieve it through the f-hole, and remove the crossbar or other piece that is preventing removal.
  
  
• This wheel is designed to fit the conventional endpin collar, those with a set-screw that is screwed through the wall of the collar to the inside, where it contacts the flat part of the wheel shaft insert. This wheel shaft will not work if your endpin is a different type, such as shown in the photo at right - the wheel will spin freely, and that's not good for driving it around. 

Note about the "10mm" wheel:

Glasser makes a 10mm wheel, as well as a 9.5mm wheel. Half a millimeter is what, a few hairs? - but it makes a difference. So much so, that if you order the 10mm wheel, we're actually going to send you the 9.5mm wheel. Why? The thing is, their 10mm wheel has a thick, protective paint finish on the post. That finish makes it too large to fit into the hole on the receiver for most common 10mm endpins(!) -- like the majority of our customers have -- without removing that protective finish (which is a pretty laborious job, and it makes it both ugly and no longer resistant to rusting).

The 10mm size does fit their own Glasser carbon fiber endpin receiver, but usually not the more common endpin receiver you probably have. As a result, the 9.5mm is the better fit in those cases (which is most cases) so that’s the one we provide when you place an order for a 10mm wheel. Don't worry, we know what we're doing; we've been doing this for quite a while, and the 9.5 wheel fits very well in the typical 10mm endpin receiver.