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

[Ron Nossaman]

> I understand that I have yet to achieve heavy-weight status on this 
> list, and as such my post will not seem as authoritative as some, but in 
> general I think there are some benefits to seating strings.

It's not about being authoritative. It's about accurate and 
useful information.


> To say a string can never become un-seated is to assume it was seated 
> properly in the first place.  

There is no way that a string installed with positive 
downbearing, offset through slanted pins designed to clamp the 
thing down, isn't seated on the bridge. It surely is, and is 
nearly impossible to avoid.


>Having worked in the factory setting, and 
> in the rebuilding shop, I can tell you that many pianos are coming out 
> of the factory with sloppy string work. I don't see why there's a "don't 
> try this at home" attitude for this sort of thing. Not only would I 
> encourage techs to seat strings more often, but bridge pins as well. 
> (for different reasons)

For a string at 160 lbs of tension at a 10° side bearing angle 
to slide up or down a bridge pin requires overcoming somewhat 
over 14 pounds of friction. What you are doing when you tap 
bridge pins down is seating the string to the bridge cap with 
the equivalent of a 14 pound hammer. The bridge pin doesn't 
care if it is seated in the bottom of the hole or not, and 
won't stay seated through a seasonal humidity cycle in any case.


> Scaring techs away from doing detailed work isn't going to raise the bar 
> and create technicians out of tuners. If you think seating strings might 
> help, try gently seating them.  Get a brass drift, and a very light 
> hammer, and try tapping a few right at the pin, and at the bend (trying 
> to "confirm" the bend in the string).
> I don't see the harm in this if done with care (though I'm almost 
> positive I'll be lambasted for making such an ignorant remark).

What's your reason for seating strings?

Ron N