<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3157" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>"Again, I suspect this isn't unheard of, if not advertised, in manufacturing."</EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana>Oh gosh, where have I heard that very thing....... "Every one of our pianos is unique - every one of our pianos has its own personality"?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana>Hmmmmm, golly gee, where was it that I heard that.......</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana>Could it be that the small shop is building pianos as good.....oh, err, I mean, almost as good as the NY manufacturer that need not be mentioned?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana>Oops. There I go again. Sorry 'bout that. I'll go crawl back into my little shop hole and behave myself.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana>Okay, back to the subject at hand. Ron, thanks for the reflection. That tells me that it is just something that happens. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana>But now I'm curious: I can correct the small deviation in bridge shape with my pinky and just move the tenor tail over to where I want it and screw it to the soundboard - that way my design speaking lengths are maintained. From your description, it appears you are compromising your speaking lengths so that you don't have to induce a little bend in your bridge. I understand that your analysis of the string scale suggest that in the tenor section the small changes in speaking lengths are not critical - but why not just bend the bridge a bit and maintain the design speaking lengths?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----- Original Message -----  <BR>> Yes, I'm using Titebond mostly so I can slop it all over me, <BR>> and likely will, without turning into Swamp Thing. I have to <BR>> leave it in the form for about three days though, to cure, <BR>> which wouldn't do in a manufacturing process. Out too soon, <BR>> they spring back a couple of millimeters. Left in for a week, <BR>> they sometimes curl in a bit. I have no idea why. <BR>> Occasionally, one exactly matches the form a couple of days <BR>> after I've taken it out and cleaned it up, but not often. <BR>> Planing them to height changes them some too. I suspect you'd <BR>> find the same thing in a high volume manufacturing situation. <BR>> I used to try to be very careful about maintaining my design <BR>> speaking lengths even when the unison footprint went <BR>> considerably off center on the bridge. Now, I've decided after <BR>> looking at the results on the scaling spreadsheet, that a <BR>> couple of millimeters length change either way in the lower <BR>> third of the tenor bridge is realistically undetectable. Now I <BR>> put the top two thirds of the scale on the bridge where I want <BR>> it, maintaining design lengths as closely as I can, and center <BR>> the unisons on the bottom third where they fall. Play it where <BR>> it lies. Again, I suspect this isn't unheard of, if not <BR>> advertised, in manufacturing. Horrors!<BR>> <BR>> Ron N<BR>></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>