Synthetic string

[wingplum]

There are some discussion on the new synthetic string on Chinese Qin web. Does anyone has some information about it ?

[charliecharlieecho]

What's the title of the thread where the discussion is, please?

[charliecharlieecho]

charliecharlieecho said:

What's the title of the thread where the discussion is, please?

I.e., the title in Chinese.

[wingplum]

You may find them in;

www.chineseguqin.com ~{9EGYQ'VwB[L3~}

www.guanglingsan.com ~{m=GY9$RU~}

[charliecharlieecho]

Thanks Wingplum. Unfortunately my comoputer doesn't render you Chinese properly, but I'll try elsewhere.

You might be interested to know that some harpists are now using 'carbon' strings. I haven't seen any yet, but hope to try some out over the next few weeks - if I can get them in the right weights.

[wingplum]

CCC; What appeared in discusssion is as A/F :

1) Only 100 sets were made .
2) Sell for RMB 350. abt US$ 45 per set.
3) Some masters tried it on a meeting on Sept. ,and found it sounds very close to silk string.
4) Since it is close to silk string, so silk string guqin is recommended to match with it.
5) They said it is made with parachute nylon and is stronger than silk,thus will last longer.

[charliecharlieecho]

That's interesting to know, but I doubt the accuracy of point 5. I used to be a paratrooper in the UK army reserves, and we were always told that parachute nylon is weaker, gramme for gramme, than silk.

[wingplum]

I think you are right,most probably they have not tested both material.

[charliecharlieecho]

Taking this a step further, it may be that silk strings are weaker than nylon because of manufacturing differences. A filament is strongest when it is straight and a force is applied from end to end. The more twisted the filament is the weaker it gets. Silk strings are often made with the strands twisted together so tightly that they are at a large angle to the direction of the force. If the nylon strings are monofilaments or consist of strands with a low angle to the force, the nylon strings could well be stronger than silk in actual use.

[wingplum]

I don't care too much if it is stronger than silk. The reason I look at it ,is that good quality silk is said in very limited supply. If the new synthetic string is workable,it will open a new world for us.