JIMRPT@AOL.COM wrote: > Del; > Would you care to expand on this thought? > Jim Bryant (FL) ---------------------------------------------- This is a subject I have gone into often in both the various classes I have taught and in several of the articles I've written for the Journal. Basically the difference is that with the conventional hitch pin arrangement the string is typically brought over some type of bearing bar -- whether that bar is arranged such that the backscale length is "tuned" or not is really irrelevant. As is the fact that most bass sections don't have a separate bearing bar -- the string simply bears across a felt strip of some sort. At this point the string is forced to flex if the bridge is to actually move. And we do want the bridge to move. More so in the bass than in the treble, to be sure, but throughout the scale it must move. Also, keep in mind that it is not just the point of the bridge bearing the string(s) of the note actually being struck that must move, but -- except in the highest treble -- the entire bridge (in the case of the bass notes) and at least a good portion of the bridge adjacent to those strings through the tenor/treble section. Now, pick up a piece of piano wire -- any size -- and put it in a clamp and bend it. Multiply the force required by a hundred or so and you begin to get the idea. The advantage of the vertical hitch is that the string(s) don't have to bend as much as they pivot at the hitch. This is particularly so through the bass with its typically heavier (thicker) wires. I hope the above gets the point across. If not, you'll have to wait until I've had my coffee and actually wake up. Regards, Del
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC