Dear All,
As far as bridge toppings are concerned, there is no doubt that that
they are purely decorative and/or practical.
Acoustically I doubt that anyone knows much about how it works, but it
is obvious that the lute bridge is a very small, low-mass connector of
the strings to the soundboard, and because of the shape of "classic"
(late 16th/early 17 C) lute bridges the point where the string "leaves"
the bridge is often somewhat nearer the nut than the point where the
bridge joins the soundboard, presumably increasing the leverage of the
strings in the direction of rotation. Old lute bridges are often made
of relatively light materials (e.g. pear) so are not so stiff that they
"act as one", which may also be a factor in the design.
Martin
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