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vkioulaphides
Mar-18-2004, 12:02pm
Last year I reinstalled the little horizontal, ebony bar that sits on and across the strings under the bridge of de Meglios on my 1897 1A; the previous owner had given it to me, albeit broken, as a token of good faith.

Upon reinstallation, I soon realized how handy it was as a "surrogate bridge" for wrist orientation, withOUT, however, the undesirable effects of touching the bridge itself with my wrist.

Now, after the freeze-dried winter we've had, the poor instrument was buzzing— the G-strings, at least #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif #What to do? Back to the repairman for a glacially-timed repair? Oh, noooooo...

Lo and behold! I tighten the screws on the bar, thereby pressing a wee bit harder on the strings and...TADA!!! No more buzz! (The strings were evidently buzzing against the tortoiseshell tailpiece-cover, i.e. below the bridge.)

Moral of the story: You acquire a vintage instrument; as part of the "package deal", you also inherit a... what-on-earth-is-this, a thingy-or-other, an object of initially zero apparent value or use that simply, if also mysteriously, came with the instrument and was once part of it. Dear friends: DON'T THROW IT AWAY! #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Jim Garber
Mar-18-2004, 12:10pm
Victor,
An interesting... and heart-warming story, for sure!

I am glad that it worked for you. This brings up the other topic of the "freeze-dried winter" and seasonal changes. My dear Pandini has developed some slight temperature/humidity-related quirks. I suppose it is settling in. It still plays prety well but I feel that is in need of that seasonal adjustment that onlky the best luthier can provide.

I need to break from this pesky "work" I have to do and see if I can have one of the upscale luthiers in New York I know do it while I wait or within a few hours. Hey, I may even have some time to kill... (hint).

Jim