Re; New Use For Goose's String Leveling Tool/Old News To me

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Mike... didnt see this as your posts come through on my reader with 
everything in italics... so it looks like you've just pressed the send 
button without writing a reply.

Indeed... if there is any <<appropriate>> string seating procedure... 
(and I am quite sure there is) this is the best course by far.  Accuracy 
doesnt work into the picture at all.... the point is that the string 
should be in solid contact with the bridge surface... but not buried 
into the wood... and most certainly does one not want to create a groove 
in the bridge that has an even very short segment indented so low as to 
be below the strings deflection line... as is extremely easy to do when 
pressure is put on the string outside of the string segment on the 
bridge surface itself.

Neither is there any preferable goal attained by putting pressure 
sideways against the bridge pin. The pin will force a depression in the 
surface area of the bridge pin hole long before any thing of substance 
will happen to the string itself, and this will do nothing but weaken 
the termination... usually a prime reason for the appearance of cracks 
on the bridge cap seen so often reaching down the notch at near 
perpendicular angles from the bridge pins themselves.

As someone else said... just because some fellow with 50 years 
experience tells you something doesn't make it true... regardless of the 
amount of respect he / she has in the business.

Cheers
RicB


    For those who prefer to seat their strings directly on the bridge I did
    learn an alternative method, from the same source, using a standard
    upright
    hammer shank, place the tip of the shank on the string on top of the
    bridge
    toward the pin and tap it lightly with the side of a pliers. If you
    strike
    too hard, you will only split the shank! Repeat both sides of each
    string,
    you will find this slower, more expensive( you'll split a lot of hammer
    shanks) and not as accurate as the other method but for those of you
    afraid
    of trying something new that might actually work, this would be the
    ticket!

    Mike