Six weeks ago, I had a new "winter" bridge put on my fiddle by a highly respected local violin shop.
I am a fiddler who tends to play pretty hard. I'd played it for a couple weeks and it sounded just great. The other night (luckily at home rather than at a gig) I noticed the fiddle kept going out of tune, which is unusual for my instrument. Then, suddenly, the damned bridge snapped clean in half lengthwise.
Stupid question, perhaps, but any idea how this could happen? And for those of you who do repairs: Would I be within my rights to ask the repairman, who has a good reputation in town, to replace the bridge for free?