Cello bridge weight

[baroquecello]

I bought an older 3/4 cello because of its rustic appearance. It sounded rather muted,  and the bridge looked quite unfinished with a low arch, small kidneys and heart, and left rather thick. I thought I'd weight it, and it was 17 grams. Then I thought I'd weigh 5 old 4/4 cello bridges I have here, by at least 3 different makers and wildly different styles, and all of them were 14 grams. Now I'm wondering if weight is a deciding factor on the way a bridge works, and if 14 grams is sort of an ideal weight for cello bridges.

 

I enlarged the holes of the 3/4 bridge and opened up the arch a bit, and also thinned the top so that it is 3 rather than 4 mm thick. It all looks much better now, but still a bit massive. The coincidence is I've hit exactly 14 grams, and it sounds much better now. I'm wondering,  because this is a 3/4 bridge, if made proportionally, shouldn't it be lighter in weight than a 4/4 for optimal performance, or is lighter (ergo smaller everywhere) not the way to go? It would reduce the acoustic filtering that a bridge does, I'd guess. Any experiences here? I could still take quite some wood off here and there without it looking weird...

[edi malinaric]

Hi Baroquoecello - for what it's worth.

On my cello I thinned the bridge over a period of time. The best results seemed to be around 2.2mm. At  present it's sitting at 1.9mm - too thin - it's lost power. When I get around to it I'll fit new bridge - starting at ~2.5mm.

cheers edi