Collection: Stringing

The essence of a piano’s sound comes from the vibration of its strings, making the quality of these strings vital to the instrument’s tone and overall performance. At Shackleford Pianos, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards for your piano’s strings.

Early stringed instruments used materials such as gut, iron, and brass, which had limited tensile strength, poor resonance, and low durability. Over the past 140 years, advances in metallurgy have revolutionised piano string manufacturing. Modern piano wire is made from high-tensile carbon steel, which must be exceptionally pure—containing minimal amounts of phosphorous, sulphur, copper, nitrogen, and other impurities—and consistently dense throughout.

The wire-drawing process ensures the strings have uniform diameter and meet rigorous standards for tension, hardness, flexibility, resilience, and durability. Additionally, piano strings are engineered to resist high impact and corrosion, ensuring they produce rich, stable tones for years to come.

A modern piano contains between 220 and 240 strings. Typically, the middle and treble sections feature three strings per key, while the bass section uses two strings per key, with the lowest octave often having just one string per key. This arrangement has been carefully developed to create a balanced overall volume across the instrument.

Bass strings are uniquely constructed to meet the demands of low-pitched notes. They consist of a plain steel core wire wrapped with one or two layers of windings made from copper, brass, or steel. These windings add the necessary mass to the string, allowing it to vibrate at a lower pitch while maintaining the high tension required for proper tone and volume.

The combination of a high-tensile steel core and dense windings ensures bass strings deliver powerful volume, rich tone, and sustained sound duration—essential characteristics for the deep resonance of the piano’s lower register.

Like all stringed instruments, pianos will eventually require string replacement during their lifetime. Over time, piano strings lose their vibrancy and tonal quality due to wear, corrosion, and environmental factors. A professional restringing can greatly enhance the performance of your piano, restoring its rich, full sound and ensuring optimal playability. 

String Tension:
Each piano string is under immense tension, which gradually causes it to stretch and lose its original shape. While regular tuning helps, over time the density of the wire diminishes, causing a loss of resonance and tonal richness.

Age:
Music wire used for piano strings is made from a very high grade of steel, far superior to that used in many other applications. However, like all steel, it naturally degrades over time. Older strings become prone to breaking and tend to produce weaker volume and poorer resonance.

Usage:
Heavy playing puts strings under constant stress. Similar to bending a wire back and forth repeatedly, strings subjected to frequent hammer strikes flex continuously, eventually weakening and breaking. Playing with excessive force to produce louder sounds also accelerates string wear and breakage.

Poor Quality at Manufacture:
Unfortunately, some piano manufacturers use inferior quality music wire, which leads to strings that degrade more quickly and negatively impact the instrument’s sound. Replacing these strings often transforms an average piano into a much better-sounding one.

Bass Strings:
Bass strings, which are wound with copper or other materials like brass or steel, tend to deteriorate faster than plain steel strings. The winding can lose tension and cause the strings to sound dull and lifeless over time.

Piano Repairs:
Certain repairs—such as fixing splits in the soundboard, pinblock, bridges, or frame—require removing the strings to access damaged parts. Naturally, the strings are replaced with new ones during this process.

Moisture Damage:
Exposure to high humidity or moisture causes corrosion on piano strings, which reduces their resonance and tonal quality. While some corrosion can be cleaned, in many cases replacing the affected strings is the most effective solution. Bass strings are particularly vulnerable and can sound very dull if moisture damage occurs.