Schraffed bass strings

[Dave Sanderson]

Steve
The purpose of the scuffing is to increase the union between the
copper and the core, so that they move in unison.  A dead string,
even one without a scuffing, is usually due to a very loose section
of wrap.  This can happen if a fly lands on the string winder's nose
 while he is wrapping the string.  If the fly comes back a few times
 this can happen on more than one string.  Be glad he stopped
 winding and killed the fly or  you'd have had more dead strings.
 Hope that is just a little more than helpful.  :)
Seriously, if these are double wound it is most likely the two wraps
are not functioning together. A loose top wrap does not always cause
 a buzz, just a dull sound.  A  loose top layer easily absorbs the
energy rather than transferring it away.  A loose single wound usually
does have a buzz, but even if it doesn't, I can think of only
 only one cause for this problem, energy absorbed not transferred.
I recommend getting them to send four new strings.
David Sanderson
Littleton, MA

On Sun, 20 Apr 1997 17:47:37 -0700 (PDT) "S. Brady"
<sbrady@u.washington.edu> writes:
>Has anyone out there had much experience with the schraffed bass
>strings
>from Mapes? I just put a set on a lovely Bosendorfer 200, and found
>that
>at least 4 of the new strings are dead as a doornail. All 4 are in the
>lower bass, which leads me to wonder if perhaps I'm twisting the
>strings
>too much. I twisted them as I would a normal set of bass strings, ie,
>1
>full turn on the bichords and one half turn on the monochords. Do the
>schraffed strings want less twist than normal ones?
>
>Thanks,
>	Steve
>
>Steve Brady, RPT
>University of Washington
>Seattle, WA
>
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