"Average" is Harming Your Setup

In the 1950s, the US Air Force wanted to design the perfect cockpit for the average pilot. After spending multiple years and millions of dollars measuring 4,063 pilots and calculating their collective average dimensions, they built what they thought was the "perfect" plane.

It fit none of them. Out of 4,063 people, zero were average. And the same logic is built into your chinrest.

When you purchase an instrument, you find the right bow, case, rosin, and shoulder rest. But your chinrest — one of the most critical tools in your setup — comes stock on the instrument and gets ignored. This is how players end up with chronic pain they cannot explain.

Your chinrest is not decorative. It bridges the gap between the instrument and your jaw, matching the exact height, tilt, and placement your body requires. When that fit is off, it forces you to compensate with your neck, your shoulder, and your posture.

Like many, I played on a basic Guarneri chinrest that came on my instrument for years. There was nothing obviously wrong. Everyone used it, so it should work for me too.

Then I grew from 5'10" to 6'5". My setup shifted. Slowly, I started feeling tight and playing with constant pain. I tried different shoulder rests, posture adjustments, and technique fixes, all with no success.

Eventually I tried various unadjustable chinrests. While they worked for some time, eventually my shifting setup brought me back to the same cycle of discomfort and pain. Until I built Embrace Strings.

When something is built for average, it typically fits nobody perfectly. You aren't average. So why is your chinrest?

Play freely,