Use guitar strings as bass wires for folk harp?

[patricia-jaeger]

Julie, my string gauge tool is small, flat, brass-colored with a V cut out of it and milimeter markings along the edges of the V. Pedal harp gut string middle C

[michael-rockowitz]

Dwyn,

Even before I read your post, I was thinking that my
giving up on the attempt to use wound guitar strings on the lowest harp
strings was premature.

[michael-rockowitz]

Hi to all,

One other thing – the use of wound guitar strings to substitute for bass wires, where this is feasible, seems safe enough if the tension on the strings is kept within the range the harp was built for.

However, its always possible that there’s something, some downside, some difference that I overlooked.

[michael-rockowitz]

Hi again,

I did tune the harp up to pitch.

[michael-rockowitz]

Hi again,

Just to clarify – the “warping” that I’m referring to is in the expected direction, that is to say, the column is bending towards the “string side” of the neck.

[Dwyn .]

Just remember that diameter and unit weight aren’t the only factors

[Julie Koenig]

Hi Patricia,

Yes, that sounds just like it. Thanks for letting me know I wasn’t imagining things.

It would be cool to have one just out of curiousity; wonder if they ever turn up on ebay. At least now I’d know what to search for.

Julie in Atlanta

[michael-rockowitz]

Hi Dwyn,
You stated above that “the tension will be governed by the core material” but then went on to suggest that the winding materials will affect the pitch, but it sounds like, not the tension.

What I can’t get beyond is that, if the winding material is itself also under tension, won’t that also contribute to the overall tension?

[michael-rockowitz]

Hi to all,
Just to follow up on the warping issue – I took a yardstick, and rested it from the base of the second lever (where it read 1″) to as far down the column it would go – this was close to the bottom of the column.

[william-weber]

Mike,
The winding material itself is not under tension. When the soft metal is wound on the core, it is mostly under compression along the axis of the core, while under tension along its own helical axis. As the string is raised to pitch, this compression decreases but never entirely.

[michael-rockowitz]

William, Dwyn,

Then, I assume it follows that if you know the tension of the core of a wound string, for a given frequency and length, then you know the tension the string is providing.

[Liam M]

Julie,
I do not know the name of the device, but I know what you are speaking of, I saw one in south america. Michael, it is a variable area fork where you slide it onto the string until it is snug, then read the corresponding marking engraved on the tines. Not as accurate as a dial caliper, nor an electronic, but a lot more robust to throw into a tool kit and have as a ready reference.

[Liam M]

Michael, the winding increases the mass per length, u. But does not carry the tension. You should be able to determine the tension once you measure the mpl.

[Liam M]

Sorry, that is SI units, meters, kilograms per meter and newtons.

I put the equations into MS Excel and have them in Mathcad. Makes it easy to plug in and run.

[Author]

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