[CAUT] left to right or R to L?

[Ron Nossaman]

> Can someone please explain why this "stresses the soundboard properly."
> If I am improperly stressing soundboards, I would like to correct my ways.
> Thank you.
> Ed Sutton

I presume the working clearance mentioned is where the bridge 
goes under the strut, with the pins contacting the bottom of 
the strut so you can't get a string in between. A little load 
on the bridge flattens the board enough to get the wire on the 
bridge pins there. I string from the treble down, a section at 
a time, just getting the wire on and the pins in with no 
tension on the strings. Then I pick up the tuning hammer and 
from the bottom up, pull the coils up with a string hook as I 
pull them up to tension. Then I level pins, squeeze beckets, 
tap coils, rough in a bearing adjustment if I have vertical 
hitches, pull the section up to near pitch again, move the 
jack, and start the next section. Usually, the cumulative 
bearing will be enough to get clearance under the strut for 
that troublesome unison. If not, I string up to it, treat it 
like a section break, and do the above routine. That pretty 
much always gets me enough clearance to proceed.

Same dragon, different approach.
Ron N