Aluminum Wound Strings

[Ron Berry]

I have seen Aluminum windings on Everett pianos from about 20-25 
years ago.  The idea was that you could get lighter weight with 
bigger wire.  It turns out that because of the softness of copper you 
can use a thin enough gauge that the Aluminum doesn't give you 
anything you can't do with copper.  Aluminum doesn't rust but it does 
oxidize and those Aluminum strings went dead way before the copper 
ones.  The same holds with iron from what I have seen.  There are 
iron windings in older pianos and I have seen concert grands with 
both iron and copper.  The iron is only slightly lighter than copper 
so the weight is not the issue.  It may have been brighter when new 
but the fact that it rusts seems to make them go dead sooner than 
copper.  

You could use copper windings the same size as the iron without 
changing much.  I would run the scale through the computer and just 
use copper.

Ron

> Dear List,
> 
> I'm rebuilding a 1911 Stieff upright.  The first three unisons in the bass
> are steel or aluminum wound trichords.  In the past I have used Schaff for
> bass strings, but they are unable or unwilling to duplicate this type of
> string.  Is there someone who can?  
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Frank Weston
> 
> 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron Berry, RPT, Indianapolis, IN
ronberry@iquest.net
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