<HTML style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; FONT-FAMILY: MS Sans Serif"><HEAD> <STYLE> .hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma } </STYLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3157" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY class=hmmessage> <DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">I would say that the odd color may be due to the material composition of the tinning, not the presence or absence of it.  In fact, I will go out on a limb and suggest that tinning of music wire may be more common and widespread that one would think.  I was told by a third party that a well known music wire maker stated that the only difference between their "premium" music wire and their "standard" music wire was that their premium wire had heavier tinning, suggesting that all of their wire had at least some tinning.  </FONT><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">Regarding the reasons for tinning, I would not disagree with the statement that tinning is for looks; however, I would say that it is for rust-resistance, which is to say, for looks, long term.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">One contributor stated that he was only aware of two new grands of Chinese origin, marketed in his area, (correct me, if I got that wrong).  On this subject, I'll see if I can't stir things up a bit more.  I would suggest that more are made in China than one would suspect, or dare I say it ...... virtually every new piano out there, if not made in China, includes a substantial number of component parts made in China.  Take, for example, a company with a "good-better-best" marketing strategy, good made in China, better made in Japan or Korea, and best made in the West.  How much of a stretch is it to suspect that even the Western-made pianos have some component parts from China, with such a company's established connections in China?  Consider parts unique to pianos, such as tuning pins, key pins, and action parts.  How much of a stretch is it to suspect that the time is coming when these parts will no longer be available, except from China .... if that time is not already upon us?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Frank Emerson</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>PS: For any who may be interested, I will betray my own bias.  The following is a link to a photo of a Chinese-made concert grand, of my design, played at the One-Year Countdown Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><A href="http://en.beijing2008.cn/1year/officialcampaign/s214122684/n214123324.shtml">http://en.beijing2008.cn/1year/officialcampaign/s214122684/n214123324.shtml</A></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=karlkaputt@hotmail.com href="mailto:karlkaputt@hotmail.com">Gregor _</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A></DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 9/17/2007 5:34:23 AM </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Strings and sealing wax, and other fancy stuph</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2>As mentioned, the strange colour of the strings might be due to tinning these strings. Back in the eighties, the shop where I made my apprenticeship had these tinned strings in stock. But we did not use them anymore. I think the only reason for tinned strings was the better look.<BR> <BR>Gregor<BR><BR>> From: scottwaynejackson@hotmail.com<BR>> To: pianotech@ptg.org<BR>> Subject: RE: Strings and sealing wax, and other fancy stuph<BR>> Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2007 14:29:29 +1000<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> Ron,<BR>> The only Chinese grands that i see at the moment are "Story & Clark" and Neimeyer from Dongbei. I can't say that i've noticed anything strange about the plain wire, but now i will take another look. These all have serial numbers beginning with DG.<BR>> <BR>> Scott Jackson<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> >> What I'm most interested in is why that plain wire is a> different color, and why it rendered so poorly.> Ron N<BR>> <BR>> _________________________________________________________________<BR>> Make shopping exciting. Find what you want @ www.eBay.com.au<BR>> http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Frover%2Eebay%2Ecom%2Frover%2F1%2F705%2D10129%2D5668%2D323%2F4%2F%3Fid%3D6&_t=763807330&_r=email_taglines_EBAY&_m=EXT<BR><BR><BR> <HR> Get news, entertainment and everything you care about at Live.com. <A href="http://www.live.com/getstarted.aspx " target=_new>Check it out!</A></FONT> </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>