bridge pin material

[Ron Nossaman]

>
> David, 
>
> I'm amazed no one else replied to your post (at least not to the list).  Mine
> isn't much of a response, but I guess everyone agrees that the material has
> to at least be softer than the wire.  Better to have grooves in the pin than
> in the wire.  Why not brass or bronze?  Better rendering?  I don't know. 
>
> Along the same line, Boesendorfer now uses an agraffe with a steel wire
> driven through it above the holes to reinforce them.  It can't possibly make
> the brass any stronger, and if the string cuts through to the steel then it's
> liable to mar the string.  What's the thinking there? 
>
> Fazioli uses a bronze rod set in a groove in its capo section.  I think
> bearing material is a great subject for discussion. 
>
> Paul Larudee 
>
> David Love wrote: 
>>
>> I discovered on this piano I'm restringing (Schiedmayer c 1910) that the
>> bridge pins are made from nails.  It brings up a question I've had.  Since
>> false beat problems often arise from eventual cuts made in the side of the
>> bridge pin, why are they made of such soft material as copper (though a
>> guess they are actually "coppered", or some kind of alloy).   What other
>> material are used, if any, and what is the cost/benefit of those materials?
>> David Love
>



The original never showed up in my box, just this. So...
First off, I don't know that false beats often originate from "cuts" (wear,
abrasions, erosion, cavitation) in bridge pins. I'd put loose pins first on the
list, with wear and accompanying deformation of the pins as a supportive
second. Most bridge pins we see are probably steel (plated), with brass (plated
or otherwise) as the second most prevalent. I don't know that there have ever
been copper pins installed in anything. Brass is more lubricious than steel,
but is softer (obviously), and more expensive, so the cost/benefit is mostly in
the perception of the builder. Nails should work at least as well as anything
else with the heads trimmed off , but won't have the corrosion resistance of
brass (plated or otherwise), or plated steel. What diameters are the nails in
your Schiedmayer  bridge?

Ron N