Bridge notching

[Ron Nossaman]

>How long before this beast starts "zinging?"  Any advice?  My simple
>"rocking" tool indicates a fair amount of bearing even in the "killer"
>octave.
>
>Bill Maxim, RPT

I'd say leave it the heck alone. If it doesn't want to make evil noises, it 
shouldn't have to. If it starts making noises later, pull the plate and fix 
or replace what needs fixed or replaced. Bridge notching is another of 
those things that has proven to be different in my experience than I was 
taught. I've seen an awful lot of notches that didn't bisect the bridge 
pin, yet didn't make an objectionable noise. I still make them as close to 
that "ideal" as I'm able, but in real pianos in the wild, it's just not as 
critical as we've been led to believe. Too shallow, as you've got here, is 
more often noisy in my experience than too deep, but there will be plenty 
of disagreement about that. What do you tell the owner when you find this 
sort of random notching in a brand new $30,000+ instrument, whether it's 
making noise or not?

Incidentally, where did the term "brand new" come from? Brands get old too, 
don't they?


Ron N