Bridge agraffes

[Clark]

Phillip Ford wrote:

> I would think that the device in question would have some advantages 
> over a conventional bridge string termination. Were there some 
> reasons that it wasn't adopted?

Sohmer and Hallet & Davis did adopt these around 1890. I think both
manufacturers sometimes pinned their high trebles, slotted agraffes in
bass.

Sohmer's system is 2/3 like to bridge pressure bars, which I've seen in
Guild, and Schubert uprights, and H&D squares: strings pass under the
agraffe and then over a wooden counterbearing.

H&D rather drilled holes to angles, and alternated their orientation,
with no second bearing.

Cost, consistency, and in Sohmer's case I think poor aging all would
count against the technology, though my impression - and especially on
fixed up Sohmers, is that they sound a lot different than pins.


Oh, for Ron O.:  I pulled an Emerson scale 5 upright yesterday, that
someone partially disassembled twenty years ago. Ca. 1885, it's a nice
little three-bridge design, perhaps the easiest piano to rebuild, too
(good thing, needs everything). Sides are screwed to the plate, no
posts, board surrounded a separate liner - a more orthodox scale 6
followed it shortly, I'm sure the patented 5 was more expensive to
manufacture (for its size it requires a fair amount of carrying power).
Anyhow, the pinned bridges average about 50mm tall (tapers from 55mm
treble, 45mm bass). 

For Phil Romano: In 1885, US329277, J.F. Conover patents a method to
mounting extra strings on bridges: "the long strings do no possess
sufficient power and resonance".


Clark