Bridges
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2023 10:11 pm
Hey All!
I have lurked for a long time and haven’t posted, hello hello.
I’m curious as to the group’s thoughts on bridges. It feels reductionist to say it’s simply that a belly bridge can (often) support heavier strings due to its greater surface area and therefore stronger bond with the top.
I ask because I’ve noticed that sometimes a model will have a belly bridge, and sometimes a pyramid. I realize that it can be chosen as a custom option, but I recently saw an 0 with a pyramid that was made last year. All the models, even down to the Baby on the Collings site, are now shown with belly bridges. Albeit the text description for the Baby calls it a “small belly-style” bridge.
So aside from aesthetics and possibly historic reasons, why might someone choose pyramid over belly, or vice-versa? I understand that the conventional wisdom would be to use lighter strings on a pyramid bridge for reasons already mentioned, but… how does its lower mass affect its ability to conduct the string vibrations to the top? Or who cares.
This is quite esoteric, I realize, and maybe not the best question for my first post in years. But I’m curious! So I ask.
Thanks,
Stuart
I have lurked for a long time and haven’t posted, hello hello.
I’m curious as to the group’s thoughts on bridges. It feels reductionist to say it’s simply that a belly bridge can (often) support heavier strings due to its greater surface area and therefore stronger bond with the top.
I ask because I’ve noticed that sometimes a model will have a belly bridge, and sometimes a pyramid. I realize that it can be chosen as a custom option, but I recently saw an 0 with a pyramid that was made last year. All the models, even down to the Baby on the Collings site, are now shown with belly bridges. Albeit the text description for the Baby calls it a “small belly-style” bridge.
So aside from aesthetics and possibly historic reasons, why might someone choose pyramid over belly, or vice-versa? I understand that the conventional wisdom would be to use lighter strings on a pyramid bridge for reasons already mentioned, but… how does its lower mass affect its ability to conduct the string vibrations to the top? Or who cares.
This is quite esoteric, I realize, and maybe not the best question for my first post in years. But I’m curious! So I ask.
Thanks,
Stuart