Re: Wire Size Calculations
By Terry Smythe
WOW!
Many thanks for all those responses to my inquiry about determining wire sizes for a Krakauer grand with no strings.
By chance, I did acquire with it a full set of new bass strings, but the documentation for wire sizes of the treble strings was missing. I am aware of the techniques that Craig mentioned to acquire a new set of bass strings, in fact, have done it before. But how to determine wire dimensions for the rest had me stumped.
Fritz Gellerman suggested a book "A Guide To Restringing", by John W. Travis. A quick on-line visit to my local library revealed they had a copy located in the main branch, followed by a quick trip there this morning, and I'm looking at it right now. Many thanks Fritz, much appreciated.
In it is something called "The Klepac Chart" which purports to set out a simple table of "speaking lengths" against wire size, from 2.04 inches (#13 wire) through to 70.57 inches (#21 wire). If this is a surprise to others, as it is to me, you may be interested in this table, which is as follows:
Speaking length Wire Size
2.04" to 2.39" 13
2.52" to 2.95" 13 1/2
3.00" to 3.64" 14
3.83" to 4.96" 14 1/2
5.25" to 6.83" 15
7.20" to 9.34" 15 1/2
9.85" to 11.53" 16
12.14" to 15.79" 16 1/2
16.64" to 19.48" 17
20.52" to 24.03" 17 1/2
25.32" to 29.62" 18
28.12" to 36.50" 18 1/2
31.83" to 37.33" 19
39.36" to 51.29" 19 1/2
48.67" to 63.14" 20
60.19" to 70.57" 20 1/2
66.90" to 70.57" 21
This is an abbreviated list, which also includes specific string identification against speaking length, which accounts for apparent overlap in the higher lengths. The actual table is 2 pages in length, and if desired, I could upload a .PCX image of the complete table. Credit is given "courtesy of the Schaff Piano Supply Co., Chicago, IL.
However, it looks too easy, and I've learned that if something is too good to be true, then it likely is. Has anybody had experience with this chart? Given that other very knowledgeable people have developed mathematical formulae to do this, can such a simple table be considered reliable?
Regards,
Terry
Terry Smythe (204) 832-3982 (voice/fax)
55 Rowand Avenue smythe@mts.net
Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3J 2N6 smythe@freenet.mb.ca |
(Message sent Wed 24 Apr 1996, 15:40:51 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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