If the Kun shoulder rest, lowered to its lowermost position on the shoulder end is still uncomfortably tall, perhaps a shoulder rest is not the best choice for you. It may be that you will discover greater satisfaction through the use of a sponge, or pad, or some such other method or device.
But that said, if you wish to squeeze the Kun down further than it was designed to go, thereby gaining a diminishment of some further millimeters, it is possible to do so, as I shall demonstrate below. However, this will most certainly void your warranty, so you follow my example at your own risk. Do not do this if you cannot afford to lose the Kun should you fail on your first attempt.
This is the shoulder end assembled.
And here it is again disassembled. What I intend to do is to dismiss the support caddy altogether, and screw the support directly into the end of the shoulder rest.
No doubt you have immediately spied the flaw in this plan, namely the screw that the nut attaches to to hold the caddy in place. It will pose a threat to integrity of the violin's varnish if it is allowed to come any closer. Clearly it must go.
Peeling back the foam support, we can see that the screw is firmly inset into the plastic. I attempted to hammer it loose and to wrench it loose with pliers, but all to no avail. Two other alternatives suggested themselves, namely cutting the screw off with the cutting wheel of a rotary tool, or drilling the screw out from the bottom.
One would not be able, I think, to saw the screw off at the base, without making an unsightly mess of the plastic. While I do not believe in allowing aesthetic concern to unduly constrain me, if there is another method as good which will leave less of a mess, then that is the method I would prefer.
It is not necessary to drill all the way through the screw, merely to its base or approximately thereabout will suffice. Once the initial guide hole was carved, I used drill bits of increasing size in a rotary tool to expand the hole.
Eventually the screw's base was so weakened that I could simply snap it off with the pliers.
I placed the screw of the support approximately where I wanted it. This is a fine judgement, for while one wants the hole to be as close to the edge as possible, too close and the danger is run of breaking out of the end altogether. While this could be compensated for later, it is best to make this judgement correctly.
Erring too far in the other direction, toward the centre, will make it difficult, if not impossible, to attach it to the violin. There is a certain amount of play in the supports on the Kun, but there is a limit, and even optimum placement of this hole taxes it somewhat.
I have marked where I want the hole with silver pen.
Again, I adopt a method of using a small drill bit (though not so small as for drilling through the brass) to start, then increasing the diameter as I go, testing all the while to find that diameter which is not too small, nor too loose, but into which the screw threads snugly.
On first fitting with the shoulder end support screwed in as far as it will go, we discover that we have indeed eliminated the clearance that existed with the unmodified Kun. As a consequence of this, however, the Kun now touches the body of the violin.
It seems prudent to add a layer of thin cork where the Kun touches the violin body. It may not be a problem, especially if the shoulder rest is removed regularly, but best to play it safe. I have seen rather unfortunate interaction between plastic and varnish, though granted it was also the result of long contact.
The other apparent cause for concern is the long screw exposed at the end. I tried playing with it and it was not uncomfortable, but its the sort of thing one would prefer not to see on something which might be carried loose in a violin case with a violin.
First step to diminishing its threat is to cut it, and file the cut ends so that they are not sharp. It could have been cut shorter still, but bear in mind with this approach if we wish to lower the farther end of the Kun, we will need to increase the height on this end. How short we cut here may limit our options, though to some extent that is inherent in this exercise. Kun's objective is to create a shoulder rest that is adjustable for use by a large variety of different shaped people, whereas our objective here is to create something specifically for our short necked selves.
Then I apply some green stuff. This two part putty, one part blue, one part yellow, was originally designed for plumbers. Mixed together, the parts form a green putty which hardens into a kind of plastic.
I apply it quite liberally, since I not only wish to hide the hard edges of the screw, but to create as well a kind of plastic support such as existed on the original caddy.
In the end the objective of recovering those extra few millimeters is achieved. Will the modification stand up to extended use? Only time will tell. When it does I will update this page.