Bridge Seating (was Re: Where to notch a bridge, & relative effects ????? (Advice sought)

[Joseph Alkana]

Never measured, Ron, just using my eyes. But I certainly have sat in classes 
on dealer piano prep where the representatives of several manufacturers 
advise checking to see that the wire is making solid contact with the bridge 
and pin as a very early step in the prep sequence. The amount of contact I'm 
talking about would be the difference between just barely touching, and a 
solid contact with pin and bridge. Much like a violinist or any string 
player that uses a light touch to produce a harmonic vs. a solid contact to 
define a pitch. Might be a poor analogy but the best I can think of at the 
moment. In either case, a feeler gage would be useless. However, I have seen 
many new pianos with the wire well up on the bridge pin and no contact with 
the bridge and I don't need a feeler gage to ascertain this. Poor stringing 
techniques probably employed at the factory, or intentionally left as is 
assuming adequate dealer prep down the line. Sorry, I just don't buy the 
idea of the wire magically seating itself tight each and every time you 
string a wire. Wire high on the bridge pin of newly strung pianos is a fact 
as far as I'm concerned, based on observation, and by listening to the tone 
produced before and after seating.

Wire riding high on bridge pins in old pianos is probably a whole other 
subject as I tried to say in my first message.

Interesting thought: We could observe a nut bottoming out as a structure is 
brought into assembly. In fact there might not be any measurable gap between 
the parts. However, another type of control can be employed, such as using a 
torque wrench to produce a defined tightness. In piano work, the "tightness" 
to be achieved seems best checked using one's ears. Weak or no positive 
contact yields poor or ill-defined tone. Somewhere in all of this I hope 
there is some place for artistry and craftsmanship in the approach to piano 
preparation.


Joseph Alkana RPT
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Nossaman" <rnossaman at cox.net>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 7:21 PM
Subject: Re: Bridge Seating (was Re: Where to notch a bridge,& relative 
effects ????? (Advice sought)


>
>
>> When replacing a broken wire, have you ever examined the bridge area to 
>> see where the new string resides after bringing it up to pitch? Dollars 
>> to doughnuts the wire in the stagger area is away from the bridge cap.
>
> It is? Have *you* ever actually verified this with a feeler gage or any 
> reasonable method of measurement? If you do, you'll find this isn't the 
> case.
>
> Ron N
>