At 02:16 PM 9/1/98 EDT, you wrote: >List, > >We are restoring a J.P. Seeburg orchestrion. The bridge is deeply notched to >clear the tenor-treble strut. There is over .375 clearance beneath the strut. >Would it be worthwhile to inset a piece of maple to fill part of the gap? >Also, the non-speaking side of the bridge is not notched. Should we notch this >side? We are replacing bridge pins but not recapping the bridge. Opinions are >appreciated. > >Regards, >Dale > >Dale Probst >Registered Piano Technician >Ward & Probst, Inc. >Piano & Organ Service >Wichita Falls, TX > Hi Dale, As long as you just want opinions, instead of requiring *expert* opinions, I can probably join in. What a bridge loses when it's kerfed for a plate strut is mass amd stiffness, mostly stiffness. Putting .25" of maple in the kerf won't add back enough of either to make any difference. I presume the back scale is muted by understring felt on a bearing bar cast into the plate, yes? Again, I doubt if notching the back of the bridge will add anything to the sound. It might eliminate buzzes back there, if you had any before you tore it down. Now if you were replacing the soundboard, you could fix the old rib scale, make a new bridge, sufficiently stiff, improve the string scale, notch both sides and add a rear duplex, and probably go gloriously broke. But wouldn't the piano sound nice? Ron
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC