Bass Bridges

[Ron Nossaman]

>  When I got it off, it had been glued to the soundboard, and a small
>amount of wood came off with it.  When I put it back, how much fill should
>I put into the damaged area of the soundboard IF ANY?  
>
>  Should I glue it to the sound board as it was previously, or should I
>just use the screws that go through the soundboard by themselves to hold it
>in place until I can reposition the bass strings.


Hi Ed, I'm assuming it's the odd sliver that came off with the bridge and
not large chunks. Don't worry about the little stuff, just glue and screw
the replacement on where the original was. I always used regular old
Titebond. Well, regular Titebond anyway, not old stuff.



>  I have replaced a couple of bass bridges before, and they had not been
>glued to the soundboard.  I was suprised when this one was done so.
>
>  Any words of wisdom would be most welcome.  
>
>Ed Carwithen
>John Day, OR

Precious few words of wisdom, but I can do the voice of experience if that
will help. I do a pretty good Thomas Jefferson impression too, but nobody
believes it.

I've replaced a bunch of bass bridges, and I never saw one that hadn't
originally been glued to the soundboard. I've seen a lot of them that
exhibited the "cat on a screen door" syndrome, where they were just hanging
on the strings and fell to the bottom of the piano when I let the string
tension down, but they all started life glued to the board. Being loose is
probably what brought the need for repair to everyone's attention in the
first place. In fact, Monday I get to glue on a detached bass bridge/apron
to hopefully de-thud the bass. My suggestion for you is to do the same.

Cheers, 
Ron N