Spaw, thanks for putting that old wives' tale to bed -- it's a persistent one. Like you, I mean no disrespect for old wives, or young ones, for that matter.

Murray, as a rule your bridge pins shouldn't be so tight that you have to push them out from the bottom. Once you've loosened any given string and allowed the ball end to drop away from the underside of the bridge, the pins should come right out when you pull them with your fingers. I only mention this because some people are under the mistaken impression that you need to pound the bridge pins in so that they'll keep the strings securely fashioned. This is a good way to split the bridge (a fairly common problem).