Bridge Centering?

[Ron Nossaman]

>Here's a question for Del, Ron N or Ron O: Should the area of contact, on
>the bridge, ideally be centered on the Bridge? Or, does it make one wit of
>difference to have this area favor the front, center or back of the bridge?

I don't think it really matters from a performance standpoint. For most of 
the bridge, I try to center the unisons just to get as much wood around the 
pins as possible for support, and for looks. In practice, they don't always 
get centered. I off center forward in the treble to get the bridge 
footprint away from the belly bar. The thing to avoid is undercutting the 
bridge beyond the front pin row in the treble end or string bearing will 
twist the end of the bridge forward.


>I've been more conscious of the "mis-alignment" of individual notes, (front
>to back), in "top-end" pianos, of late. It appears to me that the bridges
>could/should have been shaped more efficiently, to accomodate the "supposed"
>scale, in relation to it's physical contact, in order to cause a more even
>"downward pressure" on the bridge surface.
>
>Bests Regards,
>Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)

Again, I don't think it makes any real difference as long as the bridge is 
supporting to the soundboard, directly under the load. If the bridge was 
straight, it would be of more concern structurally, but the bridge is 
curved and won't rock like a straight one would.

It is interesting though, isn't it, to see the differences between scale 
shape and bridge shape?

Ron N