Mason & Hamlin AA scale.

[Ron Nossaman]

>    Ron
>    This drawing & bridge placement look very similar to the 1929 Mason A 
> I have posted about previously. It had 5 bichords & very good break.

Hi Dale,
In the M&H A, it's the short low bass back scale that's the biggest 
problem. The break is always more negotiable.


>What becomes of the very long tenor extension beyond the transition? How 
>much of it is really benificial. Yes some of it would lend mass to the low 
>end of the tenor bridge with plain wire which would be good.
>  What's usual in these designs?
>    Dale

It depends on whether you chose to trim it or not. My take is that it 
doesn't seem to bother the process of making the bass flexible enough, nor 
does it seem to stiffen the low tenor in the transition enough to be a 
problem. For those reasons, I typically leave it long, for the low tenor 
support, and find that it takes less mass load on the transition to blend 
the crossover. I'm sure there must be other approaches that work at least 
as well, but this is a method I can understand and handle.

Ron N