Bass string winding Tension

[Delacour Pianos]

At 07:08 24/05/02 -0600, pianotech-digest wrote:

From: "Tony Caught" <caute@optusnet.com.au>

>(corrected question)
>My knowledge of winding bass strings is very limited but for some reason I
>have thought that the core wire (when the copper wire is wound) should be at
>60% of the tension of the string when fitted and tuned to pitch.
>True or false. What is the correct tension.

As, I've written in my previous message, I use 80 lbf for all strings, which
is between 30% and 50%.  If I believed it made any difference, I would go
for 50% so that the contraction of the string on removal from the machine
would equal the extension on fitting, but I know from experience that it
doesn't.

>Today's strings seem to hang straight but I seem to remember that a new
>wound string should in fact be under tension from the winding and should
>hang with a curve in it.

If the core wire is originally perfectly straight, the tension of the copper
will produce a _slight_ 'wiggle' rather than a curve in the wire when it is
hung up.  A curve in one plane would suggest that a) the wire was not
completely straightened (no big deal) and b) that the winding is on the
loose side.

JD