iron wound strings

[John Delacour]

At 12:32 pm -0500 21/4/07, William R. Monroe wrote:

>Thanks for the input everyone.  It seems there isn't much compelling 
>reason to NOT use Iron wound strings should the client really want 
>that.  Just different tonally than copper wound strings.  Ron N, Ron 
>O, David A, Dale E, any input?
>
>Client says he really likes the tone of this old grand (probably 
>original hammers, and beat up action to boot).  It's always fun to 
>educate on what the results of a restringing will be, i.e., "Yes, it 
>will change the sound of the piano, 'course, we could replace the 
>hammers too.  And shanks.

You seem to be assuming that bright iron wire in the fine gradations 
of the music wire gauge is still available.  The only pianos I have 
seen with an iron top cover were American grands (one a Steinway) 
from about 1870 and the iron covers still had a mirror finish and a 
fine colour.  I know I cannot obtain such wire, let alone in the 
required sizes, from regular suppliers in Europe.  If there's a 
source in America, I'd be interested to hear of it.

Many German makers about the turn of the 19/20 century used iron for 
the under-cover on double-covered strings.  The difference in cost 
for the small quantity of wire required to under-cover a dozen or so 
strings would not have been a question;  the relative hardness of 
iron makes in less susceptible to crushing and distortion when the 
top cover is wound on and the winding therefore remains more round, 
which should lead to a better string. Since the greater part of the 
cover is copper, I doubt if any great difference in tone could be 
attributed to the iron per se.  The problem with such strings is that 
they do rust in time and need to be replaced.  It is very common here 
to come across old German pianos with completely dead singles and all 
the bichords fine, of pianos where just the singles have been 
replaced owing to deterioration of the iron under-cover.

I experimented with stainless steel covers a few years ago, using 
them for the top ten or so bichords on a few pianos.  The sound was 
very rich in high harmonics and considered disagreeable by me and the 
colleague for whom I made them. How similar ss is to iron tonally as 
covering wire I don't know.

Provided you can get the iron, which I doubt, I would suggest that 
before going ahead you have a few pairs of bichords made for the 
piano, some of copper and some of iron, and compare the sound they 
make.  Have a thick single string made for adjacent notes in the low 
bass, one in copper and one in iron as well.  You will find a 
considerable difference in the distribution of partials for a given 
hammer style.  Your customer may then be able to judge, or, knowing 
most customers, not.

JD