Why do some pianos have the bass bridge connected to the long bridge?

[Calin Tantareanu]

Thanks Ron!
Some comments below:

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Nossaman" <rnossaman@cox.net>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 12:34 AM
Subject: Re: Why do some pianos have the bass bridge connected to the long
bridge?


> With the tenor bridge ending out there in the big middle of the
> soundboard, the assembly isn't stiff enough. Connecting the low end

It's weird though that some makers seem to want to have a lot of room
between the end of the long bridge and the rim. Why else would they use the
wider than 90 degrees angle of the spine to the belly rail? I think all
Steinway grands have this, for instance.
So on one hand they want the bridge to get stiffer, on the other they
deliberately place it in a more flexible soundboard location.

> of the bass bridge to it both stiffens the assembly, and mass loads the
> low tenor bridge with the bass bridge and strings. It helps the low
> impedance problems of the low tenor, but kills a fair amount of potential
> in the low bass - which can not move freely.

Could this "killing" of the bass could be deliberate? Perhaps some piano
designer thought that a good bass sound should have more pronounced
harmonics but less or no fundamental?

Another interesting thing is that this connection between the 2 bridges is 
suspended, it doesn't touch the soundboard.

 Calin Tantareanu
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