piano wire

[Clyde Hollinger]

Carl,

I haven't restrung anything yet, so I am just passing on a story and a hunch
FWIW.

1.  At a chapter meeting a well-respected piano remanufacturer said, "Listen to
this."  He took a wire cutters and cut a tiny piece of music wire off a piece of
new wire.  Then he said, "Now listen to this."  He cut a tiny piece off a
different piece, and the sound of that cut was decidedly more "musical" than the
first.  The wire was also shinier, which may or may not be related.  Then he
said, "We sent the first back.  We couldn't use it."

2.  It seems to me that using the brittle wire, as you call it, is risky at
best.  I've tuned pianos where it seems the strings of a particular size are
prone to break.  Could it that particular wire was brittle?  Probably.  Using
brittle wire is likely to cause either you or someone else grief in the future.
My guess is that manufacturers of low quality pianos would use the wire anyway.

Regards, Clyde

Carl Meyer wrote:

> About 15 yrs ago I got about 100 lbs. of piano wire from an estate along
> with a lot of other stuff. There were 5 lb rolls of most sizes.  I've been
> using this stuff all these years.  I really like working with 5 lb rolls.  I
> made dispensers out of 1/8 inch peg board and cut a hole in the top to pull
> the wire out.  I have a 5 lb roll of 11 1/2 thru 22.
>
> A couple of problems:  Two or three are brittle.  I can't put a bass string
> type loop without the wire fracturing.  I always have to find a small roll
> for that size.  Not much of a problem except when an old piano had those
> loops for every string.  Probably not uniformly annealed.  Probably
> different brands as well.  Also, a few rolls don't match the others in color
> and sheen.  There are a few sizes I'm running low on.
>
> I've considered investing in a 5 lb roll of each size hoping I'll get the
> same color, sheen etc. for appearance sake. I'd like to use only one brand
> and type for everything.
>
> Question: I've heard some say "Brand X is the best" but never could get an
> understandable reason.  Is there much difference in brands or types?  Do
> some sound different?  Is it practical to use only stainless?  And why why
> why?  Thanks for any biased or otherwise opinions.
>
> Carl Meyer  Assoc. PTG
> Santa Clara, California
> cmpiano@home.com