I've seen a history of drawn wire somewhere on the web. Search
rec.music.early on Google-groups.
RT
> RE wire strings, which were somehow deemed an implausibility on early harps:
> This is pure conjecture, but I think that by the middle ages craftsmen had
> been working with various metals long enough to have figured out how to draw
> it through a die to get wire. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to making good
> musical stings would be impurities in the metal which could lead to easy
> breakage or poor pitch focus.
> When were gimped gut strings first used? They require wire.
> Any more knowledgeable contributions to this?
>
> Regards,
> Leonard Williams
>
>
>
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