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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040> =
<FONT size=4> Hi Ron O</FONT></FONT><BR><FONT size=
=4><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040> I have a (1=
950s I think) 6ft Sohmer I posted about earlier that has brass bridge aggraf=
fes in the tenor and first capo section but not in the bass. &nbs=
p;Since Phil Ford was in the shop the other day we looked at the bottom of i=
t and it has a what looks like a 1/4" maple piece running under the bridge o=
n the bottom of the board. He said it might be there to keep the bridge=
from rolling backwards because of the way the pressures are applied to the =
bridge.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040> &n=
bsp;In this config. the strings come thru the agraffe and then up over a sli=
gthly rounded hump then on to the hitch. This piano has a reverse crown boar=
d as well & sings like a soprano. In a previous Sohmer (also with r=
everse crown) I rebuilt ,the aggraffes screwed into the bridge with very fin=
e machine threads. Can you imagine how time consumning that was. Well =
at least possible if they was turned into the bridge with a d=
rill etc. My point is they were still solid in the bridge and worked well af=
ter 70 yrs.</FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face="Times New Roman"=
color=#000040></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=4><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=
=#000040> Why wouldn't this system be a candidate for so=
me one like you?</FONT>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040 size=2> &nb=
sp; <FONT size=4> Dale Erwin</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040 size=2></FONT><BR></FO=
NT> <FONT size=3><STRONG>Alternatively, one could <BR>build a panel w=
ith another bridge under the sound board as Grotrian <BR>did with some of th=
eir early grand pianos, but this would push the <BR>cost of the piano up qui=
te a bit.<BR><BR>The second concern I have with using bridge agraffes is fix=
ing them <BR>permanently to the bridge. Of the bridge agraffed pianos I have=
<BR>heard, I suspect that this can be a problem. It may be possible to <BR>=
achieve a good connection by using West system glue between the <BR>agraffe =
and the bridge, and using machine screws to secure the <BR>agraffe to the br=
idge, while at the same time gluing them into the <BR>bridge with West syste=
m. Stephen Paulello's agraffes are glued to the <BR>bridge. Take a look agai=
n at the following close-up image of his <BR>agraffe. A light blue adhesive =
can be seen at the junction of the <BR>agraffe with the bridge.<BR><BR>http:=
//www.overspianos.com.au/plello1.jpg<BR><BR>Notice also that its quite a goo=
d design since it has a low height <BR>from the bridge to the string plane. =
Unfortunately, this design could <BR>not be used for trichord stringing.<BR>=
<BR>Ron O</STRONG>.</FONT></FONT></DIV></DIV>
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