loose bridge cap

[Brian Trout]

Hi Clyde,

What do you consider to be a good repair?  What might be appropriate for a
Steinway B may not be practical for a Baldwin Acrosonic spinet.

If the customer is willing to pay the bill to have the thing repaired to
perfection,  and desires such, I have no problem with that.  You could
remove the bass strings and glue / screw that sucker in there so that it'll
never come apart again.  If you needed to, you could even stick a new bridge
/ apron assembly in there.  Although it would probably be considered a good,
maybe even an excellent repair, I have my doubts as to whether it's
practical.

You could try working some glue into the separation and putting in a screw
or two to draw it all back together again.  (I wouldn't count on it having
enough downbearing to clamp the thing back together.  You're pretty likely
to fine either so little bearing that it'll be of no use, or more likely, no
bearing or negative bearing, in which case you'll need something to draw it
back together... screws, clamps... whatever.)

If it's a little difficult getting the glue in there, even just a couple of
screws is better than nothing.  It might keep it from getting any worse.

I wouldn't get to excited over the fact that it's shifted slightly.  It
ain't got much of a scale anyway, and what changes the shift has made
probably wouldn't be noticeable to man or machine.

I just had one of these little beasts to tune today.  Looked like about a
40? year old Baldwin Acrosonic spinet.  I had tuned it last year, and at
that time recommended that they have the bass bridge (and some other stuff)
repaired.  The bridge body had come completely  unglued from the apron.
Well, these people have no intention of spending any more than a tuning fee.
So, just for my own peace of mind, I guess, I got out the cordless drill,
the box of drill bits, and a couple of drywall screws, and screwed the thing
back together.  I didn't even bother with the glue.  It sounded and tuned
much better than if I hadn't bothered.  I wouldn't call it a "great" repair.
But it was certainly an improvement to the sound of the piano.

Sorry there's not an easier answer.  There's always so many variables!!

Good luck,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net




----- Original Message -----
From: Clyde Hollinger <cedel@supernet.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2000 5:06 PM
Subject: loose bridge cap


> Friends,
>
> Today I tuned a 1972 Baldwin Acrosonic spinet in which the bass bridge
> cap was coming loose for the lowest 5" or so.  The rest of the cap
> appeared to be tight.
>
> Now I've done repairs where the whole cap was loose, removing all the
> strings, screwing and gluing, etc.  But what about this?  Do I need to
> follow the same procedure to do a good repair?  Or can I remove just the
> bottom 10 strings or so and fix the one end?  It is out of position a
> little bit.  Your input will be appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Clyde Hollinger
>
>