Re: Logos/names on bridges

Karl,
Look closely at a bridge and you will see that one side has long rays and
the other side mostly spots.  Depending on the wood and how it was cut, the
rays and spots will vary but one side will be mostly rays and the other
mostly spots.  Ed Campbell, he runs the violin workshop in Tucson that I go
to, says the side with the rays goes toward the fingerboard.
I've noticed that if the bridge is branded, the brand is always on the side
with the rays.  If the bridge has ebony inserts you don't have a choice as
to which way to face the bridge, the ebony determines that.
As far as the thickness of the bridge at the feet, the standard is 4.1 mm
for a 4/4 violin.  I don't alway thin them to that dimension but  I never
leave them over 5 mm.
The fitting of the bridge feet to the top and the tapering of the bridge on
the fingerboard side are all part of the setup.  The tailpiece side of the
bridge is always left flat.  Looking at a mounted bridge from the side, the
tailpiece side will slightly less than 90 deg to the top.  The centerline of
the bridge should bisect the angle formed by the strings passing over the
bridge.
Craig

"Karl Perry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Hey,
>
> The other day I was looking at a brand-new violin bought by one of the new
> 2nd violinists in our community orchestra.  She's a real newbie, but was
> excited about this violin.
>
> I played it and found its strings far too high and the bridge was like a
> plank.
>
> I suggested she have the violin shop lower the bridge height and shave off
> the bridge - she thanked me and took it back.
>
> Now the violin is back and does sound better - though the bridge is about
> 30% thicker than mine - and here is my real question: the bridge's maker
> logo faces the tailpiece, while my violin's faces the fingerboard.  On her
> instrument I saw that the bridge angled toward the fingerboard, so I
> straightened it a bit and warned her to make sure it was perpendicular to
> the instrument top or angled slightly towards the tailpiece.  Oriented the
> way it was, the bridge was firmly seated against the top of the
instrument.
> The bridge top was curved correctly, but it seemed to me that the bridge
was
> angled "backwards".
>
> Is there a standard or historical custom for which direction the maker's
> mark on the bridge should face, and are bridge blanks made to face a
certain
> direction?  And - how to tell whether a bridge is too thick?  This
> instrument still sounds muted to me and I wonder if the bridge thickness
has
> a lot to do with that.
>
> TIA,
>
> Karl Perry
>
>