<html> Steve et al, Having worked in the Herz shop in Cambridge, MA from 1984-87 (and having strung just about every instrument that went out the door during that period) I would imagine that what you've got is, indeed, phosphor bronze in the bass - at least that is what Eric was having me put on the instruments during my tenure in the mid-'80's. If the brass on your instrument appears scattered here and there, it may be that they are misc. replaced strings. However, I do believe Eric had, at one time, used brass (in part or all of his bass sections) earlier on in his building career. His argument for changing to phosphor bronze was that it "blooms", tonally, almost immediately, compared with brass which can take 6 mos.- 1 yr.+ to reach maximum fullness. The down side of the phosphor bronze wire was in its shorter life span than brass. Also, it sometimes took several attempts to get a nice double-helix eye on a given wire due to its being more brittle than soft brass. When I was at the shop, the German double bass sections were strung entirely in phosphor bronze, save a hand full of notes at the very bottom of the 16' register which were iron with brass overspinning wire, if I recall correctly. In the mid '90's Eric retired and sold his customer base, etc., to Hubbard Harpsichords (<a href="http://www.hubharp.com/Herz_index.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.hubharp.com/Herz_index.htm</a>). I'm sure they can answer any stringing questions you may have. Sadly, Eric (and I believe, also, his chief cabinet maker for 30+ years, Harry Luka) passed away earlier this year. Best, Robert ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robert A. Murphy Piano Technician pager 517.232.0229 Michigan State University office 517.355.3370 E.Lansing , MI 48824 e-mail: murphyr@msu.edu At 08:36 PM 10/31/02 -0500, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Dear Friends,   I service a harpsichord built by Eric Herz in 1969.  2 manuals, 2- 8ft, 1- 16ft and 1 - 4ft.  Several strings have broken in the lowest octave in both the 8 ft and 4 ft registers.  The wire is not steel - some looks like brass and some looks like copper.  3 questions - 1. Does any one have experience with this type of instrument?  2.  What exactly is this wire made of? and 3.  Where can I get the wire.  Any help would be gratly appreciated.   Regards, Steve   Stephen Snyder Piano Technician 342 Scotts Lake Road Salem, NY 12865 518-854-3888   e-mail: <a href="mailto:shsnyder@sover.net">shsnyder@sover.net</a>        </blockquote> <x-sigsep></x-sigsep> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robert A. Murphy Piano Technician<x-tab>        </x-tab><x-tab>        </x-tab><x-tab>        </x-tab>pager  517.232.0229 Michigan State University<x-tab>       </x-tab>     office  517.355.3370 E.Lansing , MI 48824<x-tab>    </x-tab><x-tab>        </x-tab>      e-mail:  murphyr@msu.edu</html>