Well - I have one bourdon and slots - but I haven't yet worked out how you
think the treble string should be tied on.
I referred my question to the collective wisdom of the
www.earlyguitar.ning.com and two people replied - one a distinguished
maker - and both suggested that the slots were to enable you to adjust the
spaces between the two strings of a course and also to some extent between
courses. The maker mentioned that most Italian guitars he has seen have
holes whereas French ones have slots. The Ashmolean Stradivarius is an
exception because it has slots - but apparently the bridge is a replacement.
Slotted bridges are easy to make and glue on.
These practical considerations seem to me to be more convincing than the
idea that it
makes it easier to stress the bourdon. I would have thought that an
experienced player would be able to do this anyway (speaking as an
inexperienced player myself it is not impossible). without altering the
level
of the treble string..
A slotted bridge is certainly less sturdy than a solid one (as I found to
my cost) and presumably
the fact that it makes less contact with the table is significant too.
What are the advantages of having holes? I assume that both you gentlemen
have slots.
Monica
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lex Eisenhardt" <eisenha...@planet.nl>
To: "Vihuelalist" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 8:02 AM
Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Guitar bridges
To those who have bourdons and slots, perhaps you could (at a convenient
time) tie your high octaves with a double loop and try for some weeks. It
would be interesting to hear what you think.
Lex
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