New bridge to tame a harsh fiddle?

[Andrew Mowry]

I was gifted a student violin for my daughter to play, and it sounds rather harsh and raspy under the ear (enough to make one not want to play it) but sounds pretty good a few feet away. I experimented a bit with blue tack and found that about 0.5 grams on the top of the bridge totally transforms the instrument, smoothing out the sound and eliminating the harshness without making it sound like it has a mute in place. I'm wondering if it would be possible to cut a new bridge that would mimic this effect? It would probably be a lot of mass to add to the top of a bridge, but maybe increasing the flexibility would help? Any suggestions on where to begin?

Putting some blue tack on the treble f-hole wing has a similar but less pronounced effect, so that may be another route to follow.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[Clay Schaeffer]

Is there any room to lower the bridge a little ? Reducing the stiffness usually has a similar effect as adding mass on soundboards, but I'm not sure how that would work on a bridge. You could try reshaping the center piercing
Reducing the downbearing usually adds some sustain (not a great concern for a fiddle) and cuts some harshness, but to do that you have to either lower the bridge or raise the tailpiece
You could try swapping out the bridge for a heavier one and see if that helps.
Inlaying a small bit of lead to the spot on the bridge that makes a difference might be the easiest thing to do (painted to match the bridge). Not the most orthodox way to go , but for a student instrument, and a part that is easily replaced......

[Andrew Mowry]

Thanks Clay-- I did end up making a new bridge yesterday, leaving the top quite thick (basically the original thickness of the blank). It made a big difference, though it looks odd being that thick and it's still a little more harsh sounding than I would like. I was wondering if increasing the flexibility of the lower portion of the bridge might help, so I may try thinning it in that area and increase the cutout sizes as you suggested. I didn't think of inlaying lead until I had the bridge back on, but I may try that as well. I also ordered some Pro Arte strings, as I read that those are supposed to help tame harsh fiddles a bit.

The bridge is at the optimum height, though I could probably take a mm off. I may experiment with that.