wire curve

[Jim Coleman, Sr.]

Hi Ron:

Thanks for exposing yet another myth about pianos.

Here's another one. Has anbody ever deliberately put a kink in a plain 
wire to discover how much wild string effect this has? I have serious doubts
about this one too.

I know, some guys and gals put kinks in wire near the bridge pin supposedly
to seat the strings at the bridge. I think this is totally unnecessary, but
I do not remember hearing anything detrimental to the tone because of this.
It just looks bad.

Jim Coleman, sr.

On Sat, 27 Feb 1999, Ron Nossaman wrote:

> Hi Gang, It's me again, with another one of *these*. Let's have some fun and
> see what we can learn.
> 
> I've heard a considerable number of rather vague references to accommodating
> the "natural" curve of the wire when stringing. Frankly, this sounds to me
> just like all the other mythology and Voodoo surrounding pianos, including
> magic soundboard varnish, what flavor tuning tip you use, duplex
> optimization, etc. Before you get the mob fired up, I'll try to explain.
> 
> First of all, the "natural" curve in the wire isn't natural. It's the first
> permanent bend the wire suffers downhill of the drawing dies, isn't it? It's
> semantics, I know, but "natural" implies that wire *should* be curved,
> presumably so the stringer will have something else to fuss with while
> fighting the wire into the singularly *unnatural* configurations in which
> it's used in pianos.
> 
> Secondly, in what way is the curve accommodated when installing the string?
> Is the idea to wind wire on the tuning pin in the same direction it's
> already curved to try to minimize the trauma to the wire? Bad news gang, you
> have to bend it the other way at the hitch pin, unless you want to twist the
> wire a half turn (horrors!). Which is the more heinous act? Who that you
> know is even CAPABLE of cranking a wire around the hitch pin against the
> curve with bare hands? Then again, wire doesn't break at hitch pins, does
> it? Or is the curve in the speaking length the more important? Do you want
> it curving up, down, left, or right, and why? You are going to lose at the
> bridge in any case.  
> 
> A string that was twisted on installation, even a little bit, has been a
> handy goat for every conceivable string noise that the tech is otherwise at
> a loss to explain or fix. Just how big a deal do you suppose this is? I
> doubt there is a stringer on the planet that doesn't routinely put at least
> a quarter turn twist in plain wire when installing it. I don't see how it's
> avoidable. It's quite likely that all the plain wire installed by an
> efficient stringer has the *natural* curve lying in roughly the same
> direction, but that's a consequence of letting the wire go onto the tuning
> pin in the way that requires minimum battle on the part of the stringer.
> It's not a conscious decision to have the curve going in any particular
> direction, at least in my case. The stringer will do whatever hurts the
> least and is the fastest.
> 
> I'd like to hear any real reasons for orienting string curve in any
> particular direction. If it's for sound production, I want to know why there
> is a difference and what the difference is. If it can't be demonstrated, it
> probably doesn't exist. Is there a real body of evidence to support this, or
> is it just another speculative magic thing that has been generally accepted
> because it sounds sort of technical?  
> 
> Well, hey, *someone* has to challenge this stuff.
> 
>  Ron 
> 
>