[CAUT] Bronze wire tension formula

Robert A. Murphy Robert.Murphy at oberlin.edu
Tue Jul 29 07:44:24 MDT 2008


Hi Jim,

You're probably referring to phosphor bronze wire, however, if you're  
going by the color alone, it very well may be red brass.  Not too long  
ago I restrung a small clavichord that was phosphor bronze throughout,  
but, that's very unusual.  The harpsichord builder I worked for in  
Cambridge, MA back in the '80s (Eric Herz) used to use phosphor bronze  
in the bass of his instruments, instead of brass - reason being that  
brass takes 1-2 years to fully "bloom" whereas phosphor bronze is  
tonally very open from the get-go.  The down side is that p.b. is more  
brittle than brass, so, it can be tricky to make the hitch pin loops   
and the strings also have a shorter life than the brass does.

Call Lutz at The Instrument Workshop (541) 210-2701 and he'll tell you  
what you have and what's best for that instrument, including a  
stringing scale.

All best,
Robert
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
---------------------------
Robert A. Murphy
Piano Technician & Curator of Fortepianos
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
cell:    517.285.3269
shop:  440.775.8275


On Jul 28, 2008, at 05:10 PM, Jim Busby wrote:

> List,
>  
> Do any of you know the tension formula for bronze wire? We need it for  
> a harpsichord stringing program and I can’t find it.
>  
> Thanks,
> Jim Busby
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