Hello, esteemed colleagues of Music Mechanical!  I just noticed that I
have 6 broken bridle straps on my old 1923 upright Jesse French player
piano.  I further noted that what I thought was a simple do-it-yourself
replacement/repair doesn't look so simple anymore.  In short, I don't
think I want to get into a "correct" replacement repair just for these
6 broken straps.

The problem is that the straps are glued in along with the supporting
dowel into parts of the hammer shaft.  (Pardon my not knowing the real
names of these parts.)  I'm very skeptical that I would be able to
unglue the dowel and strap end without heavily damaging something
important on the hammer assemblies.  (SSSnap...oops!  That's okay, I
don't play that note much anyway!  :-) )

The player and piano are working fine, and I only noticed the broken
straps when I just happened to look back there while pressing on the
soft pedal.  The broken straps don't affect anything my inexperienced
ear can hear.

So, I'm looking for ideas for long-term "patching" these straps until
the "someday" if/when the piano needs really major work.  I've thought
of patching the broken ends together, held by a thin cotton cloth, like
a small strip cut from a bed sheet, and folded over onto both sides of
the broken bridle strap, and glued on both sides with a flexible
adhesive (perhaps GE 50 year Silicone).  How's this sound?

Rick Inzero, Rochester, NY