<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Defining tone is difficult at best.  Warm can also mean a bit stingy.  I would prefer something a bit freer and I think the bridge and its size gets in the way of that somewhat.  A bridge that lacks adequate height can also be a problem (though at the other end of the spectrum) and I’ve seen Steinway bridges that were very short at note 88 that benefited from being made a bit taller.  OF course that requires some plate elevation changes and such but it doesn’t take much.  Ron’s right, these aren’t calculations, just dead reckoning.  <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Heavy dead plates are good things as are solid, heavy rims.  Higher tension scales can be dealt with by properly designing the rib scale.  The bridge adds some stiffness and unifies the assembly and distributes the load, but it doesn’t need to be that big, at least I don’t think so.  I think the tone will be improved: more expressive, wider range of dynamics, livelier and freer sound.   But that’s just my opinion, others may not agree.   <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>David Love<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>www.davidlovepianos.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Euphonious Thumpe<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, November 01, 2012 8:33 PM<br><b>To:</b> pianotech@ptg.org<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [pianotech] cutting down a MH bridge<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td valign=top style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>Not really, Ron. (I should have put "calculations" in quotes.) What I meant was "mental" calculations: figgerin', flossiphizin', stuph like that....... (All I'm good for --- numbers scare me!) This thread just got the marbles bouncing around... but not really knowing where to go....... <br><br>So you have an ultra-dead plate, strung at a relatively high tension, over fat, impedance inducing bridges, on a CC board, on a beefy case....... and it all somehow adds up to that warm, rich, Mason tone....... (albeit with a board that splits like crazy, eventually) and the goal here is to improve on that. (Which I'm certain can be done!) Hmmmmmm... I'd just really want to contemplate all these complementary and countervailing (some, perhaps, by design) factors, before I tried anything...<br><br>Thumpe<o:p></o:p></p></div></td></tr></table><div id="_origMsg_"><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><hr size=1 width="100%" align=center></span></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From: </span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Ron Nossaman <<a href="mailto:rnossaman@cox.net">rnossaman@cox.net</a>>; <br><b>To: </b><<a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</a>>; <br><b>Subject: </b>Re: [pianotech] cutting down a MH bridge <br><b>Sent: </b>Fri, Nov 2, 2012 3:14:24 AM </span><o:p></o:p></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td valign=top style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal>On 11/1/2012 9:47 PM, Euphonious Thumpe wrote:<br><br>> (I'm just offering this<br>> info, in case it may be of some help in your calculations.)<br><br>You overestimate the scope of the calculations.<br>Ron N<o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></body></html>