Hex wire

[Ron Nossaman]

>The malleability and density of copper make it an excellent material for
>wound strings when the objective is to achieve reduced inharmonicity. 
>Heavier metals such as gold or lead would be even better for the extreme
>bass and reduce the need for double or triple wound strings in smaller
>pianos.  However, the obvious limitations of cost and toxicity make them
>impractical.

* They're too soft too. Too much string energy would be absorbed, damped,
and dispersed as heat rather than sound. Sound is better, since that's a
pretty inefficient way to build a space heater, so the harder copper is
considered a better compromise between hardness and density. 



>
>Is there any reason all the windings have to be of the same metal?
>
>Paul S. Larudee, RPT
>Richmond, CA
>

* Nope. Iron and aluminum have also been used. They sound a little different
than copper windings, and they seem to "age" at different rates, depending
on the galvanic reactivity of the core/wrap mix. In practice, with a little
ingenuity, you can do about anything you need with copper.

BTW, if you have any of those old gold wrapped take-outs lying around that
you'd like to get rid of... please call me first.   %-) I'll take platinum
in a pinch.

 Ron