in wedges the vibratory response can be detected by numerous methods and is then subjected to on line or post processing spectral reduction by for example fast fourier transform fft or other means the spectral analysis can be correlated to the wedge pressure using a proprietary set of algorithms and analysis techniques fig1 shows an example of a portion of an electric generator stator 110 and the associated pieces that fit in one of the slots 112 of stator 110 an outer stator bar 120 an inner stator bar 130 one or more slot fillers 140 150 and a top ripple spring 160 are held in place by stator wedge slides 170 and stator wedges 180 moving stator wedge slides 170 in the direction of arrow a relative to stator wedges 180 or moving stator wedges 180 in the direction of arrow b relative to stator wedge slides 170 applies pressure to outer stator bar 120 and inner stator bar 130 in a direction that tends to keep outer stator bar 120 and inner stator bar 130 in slot 112 as the pressure on a top ripple spring wedge system is increased or decreased the frequency spectrum of individual wedges creates an overall frequency modulation relative to that wedge pressure increase or decrease that modulation is both predictable and measurable embodiments of the invention cover both the method for correlating a spectral shift to pressure for a given wedge system fig5 and a methodology for data collection and analysis for applying that correlation fig6 spectra are collected for each.