Help with splitting bass bridge

[Warren Fisher]

WMaxim@aol.com wrote:
>
> List -
>
> Hoping to save the customer the expense of installing a new bass bridge, I
> tried removing the affected pins and working in epoxy before pushing the pins
> back in and cleaning up the surface.  It set up for a week before I put the
> strings back.
>
> The situation was different from any I have run across.  There was no
> buzzing.  The only symptom was that about an octave of the bichord strings
> had dropped about 50 cents.  Inspection of the bass bridge showed, not a
> crack in line with any of the pins, but about an octave of them had moved.
>  The impression I first had was that the offset had been too great.
>
> On closer examination, it became plain that the wood grain was not parallel
> with the surface of the bridge but was angled from the shelf toward the
> surface.  Being somewhat swirly in that area, its direction matched more the
> angle of the pins; each affected pin was lifting up the grain as it
> approached the surface.
>
> I was uncertain just how well epoxying the pins back would work, and sure
> enough I have a call from the customer that those strings are settling out of
> tune.  I had warned her that that could happen just from the loosening and
> retightening in my work.  However, I paid special attention to settling them
> in and am sure it is the bridge pins lifting the grain again.
>
> Any advice at this point?  Just keep pulling back into tune until it settles
> down?
>
> Bill Maxim, RPT


Bill,

Did you give them the choice between replacing the bridge or fixing it
or was this your recommendation?  If they chose the economy procedure
after considering both, then you are in a good position to convince them
to do it correctly now.  If the latter is true, then most state law will
say that an implied warranty exists that you are required to satisfy.
As my Daddy used to say "Son, take your losses early!"  Order the bridge
and get it done right.  Most people will tell five people if they
appreciate you, if they don't, they'll tell twenty!  It ain't worth it!

Now that the doom and gloom is out of the way, you might try putting
longer pins in that area and using CA GLUE with the spray fixer to lock
them in place,and stabilize the wood grain.  You don't have a lot of
other options that I can see.

Good Luck!

Warren
--
Warren D. Fisher
fish@communique.net
Registered Piano Technician
Piano Technicians Guild
New Orleans Chapter 701