One of the reasons autoharp strings remain as stable and long-lasting as they do is that they don't undergo the same sort of stresses that guitar strings have to endure: nobody bends autoharp strings for musical expression, and they don't get pressed against metal frets as they're played. A few experimenting players aside, as a general rule the tuning of each string remains constant, too, instead of being put into other tunings on a regular basis, as can and often does happen with guitar strings.
In this regard they're more like piano strings than guitar strings.
Hope that makes sense.
Wade Hampton Miller
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