Broadwood Bass string

[Annie Grieshop]

A related question:  is there a single source of at least general
information about the history of wire manufacture and string making?  After
listening to Chopin on the 1883 Chickering last week, I questioned how the
materials/construction/sound of modern strings differ from what would have
been on that piano originally, and nobody could tell me.  Thanks for any
pointers........

Annie Grieshop

> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]On
> Behalf Of John Delacour
> Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 7:41 PM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: Re: Broadwood Bass string
>
> Yes.  Why would you want the replacement string to sound different
> from the others?  The cloth tube affects the admittance at the bridge
> and the bridge pins.  The copper is whipped into the eye at one end
> and soldered to the wire at the wrestplank end.  This was done by
> Broadwood before flattening became common practice.  French makers
> roughened the core with a file all the way along and used a very
> acute conical swaging at the wrestplank end if the copper was not
> whipped in.  They continued to do this long after other makers had
> switched to flattening.
>
> JD
>
>
>