Drone Bridles

[Ted]

I am a fan of cane and elder drone reeds. I can quickly replace a traditional black-waxed thread bridle, which I have used on my reeds for years. The small contact area given by o-rings, which many use on their drone reeds, is less than ideal as a bridle IMHO. I have used small slices of clear plastic (vinyl) tubing which is streched onto a drone reed as a bridle. These have worked better on GHB sized drone reeds. I reciently bought some silicone tubing at the hobby store which makes the best bridles I have found yet. The tubing I got has a i.d. of 5/64" and an o.d. of 5/32". In measuring it I find the o.d. closer to 11/64". A metric equivalent would be a 2mm i.d. and a 4mm o.d.. I cut a shade over 1/16’’ wide section from the tubing and expand it over a tapered punch or a ball-point pen before working it onto the reed. These bridles are sucessfully used on all three UP drone reeds as well as on both tenor and bass GHB drone reeds. One size fits all. Silicone does not rot away like rubber bands for orthodontics and should last for many years. The hobby shop had a spool of it, so I bought a few feet. A foot could make a lot of bridles. If anyone wants to try it and has trouble locating the right stuff, you can PM me and I can send you some.