Standard Pitch 1870 to Present

[John Delacour]

At 08:10 18/09/01 -0400, Farrell wrote:

>3) I would like to try the new stainless steel Absolute Sound wire. They
>make two strengths - regular strength for "older pianos" and high strength
>for "modern pianos".

Get them to send you a list of their authenticated breaking strains for 
each wire size, then read Dolge's book and see how these compare with 
Poehlmann's wire in 1867 and 1893.  From experience I reckon Röslau wire is 
little more than HALF as strong as Poehlmann's in 1893 and certain European 
pianos (eg. Blüthner, Schiedmayer, Grotrian) built for Poehlmann wire need 
to be rescaled in the bass if the replacements made on Röslau are not to 
break for a certainty.  I use a wire from another German maker but I'm not 
yet convinced it's any better overall.  If anyone can tell me of a maker 
that can produce wire of Poehlmann's quality, I shall be greatly indebted 
to him.


>  So I have a square I am restringing. I also have a 1900
>Bechstein that I will be restringing. Is my Bechstein an older piano? Yes.
>Is it modern? Looks modern also to me.

It's modern and it needs stringing with proper cast steel wire. Bechstein 
is a maker, like Steinway, who never went for very high tensions.

>(I have talked to Absolute Sound folks, and I get the feeling their 
>recommendations are just "shooting from the hip".)

They should know the specifications and the applications of their product.

>  Should the selection of the string type depend on a stringing
>scale analysis (by a knowledgeable analyst - not me)? Are we getting into
>"low tension scales" and "high tension scales" with this? Are these two
>general classifications where these two types of strings would be used? What
>is a "low" and "high"?

I would not use the expression "low tension" in relation to a "modern" 
piano.  Rather I would speak of "usual" tensions and "high" or "abnormal" 
tensions. Grand pianos with "usual" tension will have tensions in the range 
150 lb. to 175 lb. through most of the plain wire scale, often tapering off 
to 100 - 120 in the low tenor and down to 130 - 150 in the extreme 
treble.  You can expect the bichords on such pianos to be 180 - 220 with 
the highest single 220 - 280lb. falling off towards the bass (the shorter 
the piano, the greater the fall).

Between the "usual" and the "high" I would place certain makers whose long 
bridge, instead of straightening out, is curved outwards in the mid 
range.  This is found in several of the Leipzig and Dresden (remember 
Dresden these days!) makers.  This results in tensions up to 250 lbs. in 
the tenor to mid-range.  Such pianos will not necessarily have 
correspondingly high tensions in the covered string range.

I would place makers such as Schiedmayer in the "high" to "abnormal" 
category.  Luckily there were not too many makers who worshipped at the 
alter of high tension -- or maybe they've all been junked.  These pianos 
are designed for tensions on the long bridge of 190 - 200 lb., bichords at 
say 250 lb. and singles up to 400 lbs with cores to match.  I keep a 
memento of a Schiedmayer baby grand bottom string which is triple-covered 
and 11mm. in diameter on a No. 26 core!

In spite of what Ron writes, I have never come across any evidence to 
support the myth that high tension means more power.  On the contrary I 
have rescaled the bass section of numberless pianos whose sound was dull 
and lifeless simply through excessive tension.  A lighter, more "usual" 
scaling completely transforms them and if anything lends more 
power.  Steinway's detractors in the early days (1867 etc) complained that 
the Americans were intent solely on volume of sound and "powerfulness" and 
the Steinway was indeed a very powerful instrument; and yet examination of 
the scale of any Steinway will quite clearly show that high tensions are 
never used -- if anything the tension in the bichords for example is 
exceptionally low.  In my opinion the old Steinways have both exceptional 
power and exceptional richness of tone.  One of their main detractors was, 
of course, Broadwood, and Broadwood's was one firm that certainly later 
fell into the high tension trap -- if any rule at all can be detected in 
Broadwood's myriad designs.  One thing is for certain - high tension never 
did any favours for the English makers. The great Brinsmead achieved 
incredible power and quality of tone by using regular tensions on a 
properly built framing with a properly thought-out soundboard and rib pattern.

JD