Plate bolts

[PNOTNR@aol.com]

Barbara's post about the broken plate bolt seems like a good chance to jump
in here and comment/ask about other situations concerning plate screws and
bolts. ( This is going off on a tangent somewhat)  I tighten screws and bolts
prior to every tuning and it is often alarming how loose many of them are,
and also how many times I've found stripped screw holes.  And there are so
many situations where plate screws are located where you can't get to them
(under pressure bars or under strings in the pinblock area) without nearly
disassembling the blasted thing.  (this is more common in verticals then
grands)  And sometimes a previous tooner has nicely rounded off the edges of
the bolts so that you can't turn them anyway.

It seems to me that there are plenty of times where all the bolts and screws
aren't going to get tightened, and by tightening the ones you can get to, the
others become loose.   Is this a serious problem?  If I tighten anything, the
overall situation is improved, right?  Is there a need to be concerned about
leaving one or two untightened?  (Does anyone tighten everything come Hell or
high water?)  Do (did) most manufacturers overbuild by using more fasteners
then necessary?  Are some bolts more critical then others?

Gordon Large
Maine (where the humidity is now making a BIG U-turn)