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

[Ron Nossaman]

> Never measured, Ron, just using my eyes. But I certainly have sat in 
> classes on dealer piano prep where the representatives of several 
> manufacturers advise checking to see that the wire is making solid 
> contact with the bridge and pin as a very early step in the prep 
> sequence. The amount of contact I'm talking about would be the 
> difference between just barely touching, and a solid contact with pin 
> and bridge. Much like a violinist or any string player that uses a light 
> touch to produce a harmonic vs. a solid contact to define a pitch. Might 
> be a poor analogy but the best I can think of at the moment. In either 
> case, a feeler gage would be useless. 

If it can't be ascertained that the string is above the 
bridge, then it is an unwarranted assumption. A belief, rather 
than a reality. Secondarily, if a reasonably cogent and 
rational explanation of how this is possible within the known 
limits of simple mechanics can't be produced, it's sheep dip.


>However, I have seen many new 
> pianos with the wire well up on the bridge pin and no contact with the 
> bridge and I don't need a feeler gage to ascertain this. 

No, you haven't, and yes, you did, or at least some rational 
explanation of how strings can be up bridge pins.


>Poor stringing 
> techniques probably employed at the factory, or intentionally left as is 
> assuming adequate dealer prep down the line. Sorry, I just don't buy the 
> idea of the wire magically seating itself tight each and every time you 
> string a wire. 

Yet you "believe" that a wire can float above the bridge cap 
against positive downbearing and the clamping action of side 
bearing and pin slant, which indicates to me that it is 
entirely a belief system, unrelated to anything real and 
demonstrable.


>Wire high on the bridge pin of newly strung pianos is a 
> fact as far as I'm concerned, based on observation, and by listening to 
> the tone produced before and after seating.

Tone produced doesn't prove the string is not contacting the 
bridge cap. There is another explanation that makes a whole 
lot more sense, within the constraints of known physics. It's 
in the archives.


> Wire riding high on bridge pins in old pianos is probably a whole other 
> subject as I tried to say in my first message.

Same subject, same error.


> Somewhere in all of this I hope there is some place for artistry and 
> craftsmanship in the approach to piano preparation.

I'd prefer a basic understanding of the simple forces and 
physical mechanics involved, without invoking the nebulous 
mystique and smoke screen of artistry.

Sorry if this seems brash and uncharitable. I've just done 
this way too many times with way too many people, and it seems 
to be never ending.
Ron N