Strings of gold

[Jeannie Grassi]

Hi everyone,
Yesterday I had a new discovery:  It was a small Schomacker grand built
in 1923.  At first glance I thought someone had sprayed the plate and
ALL of the strings, because they were all gold (or brass-, or yellow,
etc.)-colored. All the plain wires and even the bass strings, core and
wrappings.  They sounded dull with only minimum sustain.  On closer
inspection, it looked like the piano had been restrung and this was the
actual color of the strings.  In 23 years, I've never seen this before.
I don't recall any discussion on it either.  

Can anyone enlighten me?  Is this what Mapes gold is all about?

jeannie

Jeannie Grassi, RPT
Associate Editor, Piano Technicians Journal
mailto:jgrassi@silverlink.net