Bass Bridge Downbearing/Sidebearing

[Richard Brekne]

Me thinks you thinks pretty good. I would suggest that the crack you describe
would be more likely to be the result of bad material, and / or many years of
inadequate climate control.

Farrell wrote:

> A while back I posted about a bass bridge that had cracked along the
> speaking side bridge pin line - the kind where a continuous line of wood is
> destroyed and the bridge pins have all migrated so that there is no bend in
> the string at the pin. It was suggested that a likely cause was no
> downbearing on the bass bridge. I questions that.
>
> Assuming the side bearing was appropriate, I do not understand how
> downbearing would affect bridge pin stability/longevity. The side bearing
> force vector will be there regardless of the magnatude of the downbearing
> force vector. Now I understand that with increased downbearing there could
> initially be some reduction of force acting against the pin in the form of
> friction on the bridge top, but it seems to me that would go away pretty
> fast after whacking the string a few times.
>
> My information on target downbearing for the bass bridge is "just a tad".
> Some respected convention lecturers suggest to have the string "just kiss"
> the bass bridge top. I do not think such downbearing targets will cause
> undue or increased stress on bass bridge pins.
>
> Any thoughts on this?
>
> Terry Farrell
> Piano Tuning & Service
> Tampa, Florida
> mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway