Hitch Pin Installation/Plate Problem

[Newton Hunt]

The ridge helps control bearing consistency and acts as a termination
point for the waste ends of the strings.  First check the bearing, if
it is excessive then do as you suggest, glue on a sliver of maple and
paint the plate.  If the bearing is acceptable you can just weave the
waste ends to keep them quiet.  

What concerns me is that there is not enough bearing because the hitch
pin is in a higher spot on the plate.  If this is the case then you
might consider notching the top of the bridge to accommodate this
factor.

In simple words, bearing is critical, tail length is secondary.

Keep us informed.

		Newton

Farrell wrote:
> 
> Hello all you restringing types out there. David Sanderson called me today
> to inform me that some rescaling he is doing for me resulted in changing
> four sets of plain wire tricords into wound bicords. So of course, a few of
> the original hitch pins happen to be in an ideal location, but several were
> not, so I removed five pins and installed five new hitch pins.
> 
> One of them, on the bass side of the sixth note up from the end of the
> treble bridge, will have one of the hitch pins in that little area just to
> the bass side of the bass bridge, and the other hitch pin for that note will
> be in front of the bass end of the bass bridge. The strut that goes from the
> bass end of the bass bridge to the bass end of the tuning pin area separates
> the two hitch pins. The hitch pin for the bass-most string of this note is
> far (relatively) from the tenor bridge, AND it passes over a low spot on the
> little ridge on the plate just in front of all the old hitch pins. The ridge
> is the ridge in the plate that the string bends over just before the hitch
> pin.
> 
> So this one string goes right over the ridge, but does not touch it. In
> other words, all strings on the treble bridge leave the rear bridge pin,
> bend a tad over the plate ridge, and then loop around the hitch pin. As it
> is, this will be the only string on the treble bridge that leaves the rear
> bridge pin and angles straight back to the base of its hitch pin, without
> touching/bending over the little plate ridge. Will this cause a problem? If
> so, how can I build up the ridge? Can I just glue a little sliver of
> appropriately sized hard maple?
> 
> If this is not clear, I can take a photo and send it. Thanks
> 
> Terry Farrell
> Piano Tuning & Service
> Tampa, Florida
> mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com