Newbie question: Are bridle straps necessary?

[Sarah Fox]

Hi Jeff,

I'm a newbie/amateur myself, so I'm not supposed to know anything. <grin>

Still, I'm a somewhat demanding pianist (play a lot of rather fast stuff),
and I've observed the bridle straps at work on my two uprights -- an 1896
Knabe and a '66 Hamilton studio.  I've also experimented a bit with them for
the sake of learning the functional aspects of the mechanism.  Although the
hammer would certainly return to rest on *most* (?) pianos without the
strap, the strap does give the hammer a very sharp yank that is important
for very fast repetitions.  Try repeating a note as fast as you can or
trilling as fast as you can.  The notes with the rotted bridle straps might
be somewhat sluggish -- or might not (dunno).  My guess is that most people
aren't demanding enough pianists to experience the performance shortfalls
from broken bridle straps.

On the down-side, the bridle strap seems to be the indirect source of
difficulty with my Hamilton, and I would appreciate any advice as to a
remedy.  The yank can be so severe on a hard staccato as to rebound the
hammer quite forcefully into the hammer rail, causing the hammer to bounce
back towards the strings.  On some notes the strap will lift the wippen and
hence the damper, causing the note to ring a bit long (until the hammer is
en route back to the rail).  On even fewer notes (two or three, perhaps),
the "bounce" actually returns the hammer to the strings for a second strike.
(This never happens with anything I've played, but I suppose it *could*,
with the right piece.

Is this just an upright performance limitation I should resign myself to
accept, or is there some remedy?  For all it's worth, the action is
regulated to specs, except for one thing.  The letoff is regulated to 1/4",
rather than 1/8", and the hammer stroke has an added 1/8".  The last piano
tech (real RPT) to regulate this piano did the same thing, and now I know
why he did it.  If the letoff is adjusted to 1/8", there can be a
double-strike on some softly played notes:  The hammer bounces off of the
string, and the butt returns to the jack before the wippen is elevated
enough to engage the letoff button.  The butt then rebounds off of the jack,
bumping the hammer for a second very soft strike.  The greater letoff
distance remedies the problem, but at slight sacrifice of pp control.

Another possible factor:  The hammers are a bit hard/bright, probably adding
a bit to the rebound.  I need to needle them a bit more, still.

Thoughts?  Advice?  (Yes, I know y'all are going to tell me to call in a
pro, but I would really enjoy learning this stuff!)

Thanks!

Peace,
Saarh


Peace,
Sarah

----- Original Message -----
From: <boller3@icubed.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2002 10:46 PM
Subject: Newbie question: Are bridle straps necessary?


> 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.
>
>
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