David Boyce Piano Services

The strings were repalced in their hitch pins, with half-turn twist in the direction of the windings.

The piano was then put upright (it was on its back on the Piano Tilter) and tuned.

The result was highly satisfactory. No burble, and a nice full bass tone.

Screw holes were drilled so that the bridge would be held very firmly in place while the glue dried.  The shims were glued to the bridge feet, then the bridge to its shelf, and screwed in place.

This detachment of the feet could not have happened for no  reason.  It was reported that the piano had spent some time in a damp environment. Probably this caused a s tructural change which, along with subsequent drying, led to the soundboard losing some of its crown, flattening out, and pulling awa from the middle of the bass bridge. There was no downbearing, which there should have been, where the abs strings cross the bridge. 

The feet of the bas bridge were sanded so that they all sat flat against thier corresponding parts on the shelf. To restore some downbearing, bridge height was increased by cutting shims from 0.8mm plywood, for each of the feet.

All with sufficient gap to take a business card!

In fact, all four of the middle ‘feet’ were detached. This was the source of the burbling rattle, when the sustain pedal was on and all the bas strings vibrating. Their combined motion was causing the bridge feet to vibrate against the shelf to which it should have been securely attached.

Not only was it possible to pass a sliver of paper through the gap, but a piece of business card too. Clearly, there was a gap!

The customers complained of a strange noise when playing bass notes.  Sure enough, when playing any bass note with the sustain pedal on, there was a horribloe burbling warbling sound. Examination suggested that the bass bridge might not be properly connected to the litle shelf joining it to the soundboard.

A return visit was arranged, to invetigate further, and carry out any needed repair.

Two bass strings were detached from the hitch pins, and it proved easily possible to slip a piece of paper between the underside of the bridge ‘foot’ and the corresponding plinth to which it was supposed to be solidly attached.