Bridge Seating (was Re: Where to notch a bridge, & relative effects ????? (Advice sought)

[David Love]

Crushing the edge of the notch by either tapping down on the bridge too hard
or because the cap is too soft to begin with will create a bridge cap that
is not flat and dips down and away from the pin.  Combine that with
expansion and contraction of the bridge cap and the pressing of the string
between the pin and cap during expansion periods and the shrinking of the
cap during contraction periods will cause the string to unseat.  Pushing the
string down may temporarily seat the string back on the bridge.  However,
with the edge crushed it is not likely to stay there and pushing down with
your thumbnail is just as effective as tapping it down.  The difference is
that you can exacerbate the problem by tapping too hard.  You are not likely
to do that with a gentle massage.  Either way, the string will not stay
there for very long and more vigorous tapping will not help.    

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 
www.davidlovepianos.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ric Brekne
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 8:18 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: Bridge Seating (was Re: Where to notch a bridge,& relative
effects ????? (Advice sought)

I cant speak for others of course, but for myself I can say that I have 
done exactly all these things... <snip>