Will sanding down one 'wing slot' of the bridge affect sound?

August 29, 2009 at 10:16 PM ·

Yes it will. The question is : Will you notice it?

August 29, 2009 at 11:22 PM ·

It should be OK if done by a good luthier. Having the Fishman fitted in that place will make much more of a difference to the way your instrument plays than half a mm off yr bridge. I am a luthier and my expertise is strictly classical but I did fit one of these pick ups for a discerning buddy with a nice violin and he loved it..........Hope it works for you.

August 30, 2009 at 02:27 AM ·

Nicolas nailed it.

August 30, 2009 at 12:35 PM ·

Anything you do on a violin body will have an effect on the sound, it's just not possible to predict in advance whether the sound will be better, worse, or so slight that it doesn't matter.

August 30, 2009 at 01:06 PM ·

As already said, everything you do affects something. If I were doing it, I'd consider that if the trimming is upwards, the instrument will probably get just a tiny bit brighter, which may not be bad. If trimming downwards,  keep the mass removed out towards the knee where it will affect only mass, not strength, not bring the cutting in towards the center to weaken the thigh on the bridge. The way many people cut bridges (and we can't see yours over the web to know) you can't afford to lose much there.

August 30, 2009 at 01:13 PM ·

I can't imagine that'll have much effect to the sound, unless you're talking about having the bridge took away 1mm in thickness.

I used to have that fishman pickup, and I did it myself by what Michael mentioned - trimming it upward where it won't affect the knee. It wasn't installed on an expensive instrument (but still a pretty good one), so I wouldn't worry much. Can't remember what was the effect after the trimming, though.