Newbie question: Are bridle straps necessary?

[boller3@icubed.com]

Hi everybody --

I recently picked up an old Stultz & Bauer upright and am getting it into
shape to be used as a honky tonk (tack) piano in my home studio.

In the course of fixing things up inside the piano, several of the bridle
straps broke from brittleness. My question is, is it absolutely necessary
to replace the bridle straps? From what I understand, the main purpose of
the bridle straps are to keep the jacks from dropping when the action of
the piano is taken out. If the keys appear to work fine without the bridle
straps, I assume they will continue to be OK...?

Thanks in advance...

-Jeff

P.S.: Sorry if this is a dumb question; I am a total newbie when it comes
to fixing/tuning pianos.