Short backscales

[Ron Nossaman]

One more time.

Trying to get the maximum bass string length in the piano (for the 
brochure) the bass is put on a cantilever (which the pictured one appears 
to be) to move the attach point out from the rim into a more flexible part 
of the board so the bridge will still move with the strings. So yes, the 
bridge is very close to the rim but no, that's not where it's attached to 
the board. Putting the bridge that close to the rim does, however, make the 
back scale very short. So while the bridge would have still been able to 
move in spite of it's proximity to the rim, the resulting short back scale 
with those long stiff English loops effectively clamps the bridge to the 
plate and kills most of it's movement. So yes, short back scales harm the tone.

Abandoning the absolute marketing need for a longer A-0 than their 
competitor and moving the bridge forward and away from the rim, eliminating 
the cantilever, would have gotten them a much more workable back scale and 
a considerably better sounding bass as well as a bass bridge that's cheaper 
to produce and easier to install.
Ron N