Copper C and F wires?

[maren-williams]

I’ll be changing my wires in a few months and I was wondering people’s experiences with the copper Cs and Fs? How do they differ from the standard, aside from color of course, and the reasoning behind a preference between the two options?

[andy-b]

Before I got my concert grand, I had an ebony Camac Clio, with the lowest string 6th F. I literally could not see the black F wire against the column, so I changed it out for copper. I couldn’t tell a difference in the sound myself, though.

[Sylvia]

I like coloreds because I can see them better, but I use standards because the pitch is stable…not vague like the coloreds….but this could be because my harps are small, so the strings are short. (Aoyama Etude and LS 15) On the concert grands, the coloreds are probably just fine.

[jessica-wolff]

I prefer copper Cs and Fs unless they’ve gotten grungy, which makes them hard to distinguish from the “silver.” And incidentally, a harp technician told me they have a superior tone.

[tony-morosco]

I switched to the colored bass strings years ago and wouldn’t go back to the copper if you paid me.

I’m sure some people can hear a difference, just as some people find CDs to be so inferior to vinyl. But those aren’t most people and if there is a difference it is so slight as to be irrelevant. The only way to notice it is if you had someone with exceptional hearing listening to two harps with the two different strings playing together side by side.

[Briggsie B. Peawiggle]

I believe it depends upon the harp as to whether or not you can hear a difference. On my Camac Athena there is a marked difference between coated wires and silver/copper wires. The coated have a very dull sound while the silver/copper ring beautifully. My teacher has also noticed this on her Camac Atlantide.

Briggsie

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