At 12:54 -0700 4/5/08, David Love wrote: >String heights at the top end are about 42mm (1 5/8"), 44mm in the tenor. >I'd like to install a 1/8" thicker pinblock and just raise the plate >elevation up a bit all around. But I'd also like to get the bridge height >even a bit higher than that and that involves taking a bit off the underside >of the top treble strut. Not a lot but about 2 or 3 mm just where the >bridge crosses. Will that create a problem? I see plate struts modified in >this way not periodically but have wondered about doing it myself. You will be aiming to have the level of the strings roughly the same distance below the level of the reduced strut, or even less if you can manage it, so the forces will be very similar and I doubt if a reduction of say 5% in the height of the strut will bring you anywhere near danger. The less clearance you leave under the strut the better and probably it will work out right if you have the bridge hard up against the strut before the strings go on. I'd also avoid removing metal only just above the bridge, making angles, but rather grind out a flat-topped arch ending about an inch forward of the front of the bridge. JD
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