Aluminum Wound Strings

[Frank Weston]

Newton and List,

Just out of curiosity, why would the windings more likely be iron than
aluminum?  Is there an easy test to determine what the winding might be? 
Last set of Stieff strings I sent to Schaff, they claimed the smaller bass
windings were aluminum, and matched them with copper.  Seemed to work OK,
but I'd like to try for more authenticity this time.

I have and use rescaling software, and I've rescaled a piano or two when no
other guidance was available or when the piano was just plain bad; however,
when I have the original scale on a fine piano,  I am wary of trying to
improve upon it.  I figure the guys who built it knew a lot more than me,
and used the best rescaling software available - a well trained human ear. 
Moreover, the old designs were fine tuned and improved year after year
after year, so they had lots of time to get it right.  Chances of me
improving the scale with just one shot, no matter how good the software,
are pretty slim.  Am I wrong in this thinking?

Frank Weston   

----------
> From: Newton Hunt <nhunt@jagat.com>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Re: Aluminum  Wound Strings
> Date: Tuesday, March 10, 1998 4:58 PM
> 
> It is remotely possible that they are aluminum.  More likely they are
> iron.  Using  scaling software you will be able to improve the overall
> bass scale and design a set of copper wound strings for the middle
> section that will more perfectly match the steel and wound bass strings.
> 
> You can add five to six inches of better sound by rescaling the bass and
> treble and produce a easier tuned and more listenable piano.
> 
> If you don;t want to do this yourself I can do it if you send me the
> specifications.
> 
> 	Newton
> 	nhunt@jagat.com