Not much to add, all in all, except that with my Hoffman swan-neck, I had to redrill the hole for the 13th course, fundamental, at the bridge, which had been drilled for overwound strings, obviously. Not much work, actually. I am very happy with all-gut, I must say, as the basses don't ring that long any more, and it's much easier now to play lines on the basses. No need to dampen strings any more.
Mathias "Dale Young" <dyoung5...@wowway.com> schrieb: > I still think that the 6th course is used too often as a melody string for > that to be octave strung. When I hear the octave jump at the 6th in a > recording, I find it annoying for anything after 1730. Just let the basses > start at the 7th...unless you're playing that old music...then who > cares...not much melody to interfere with anyway. > cranky boy d. > > Hi, Arto.. > > > > Congratulations in finally entering the realm of baroque lute. i > > hope you find it rewarding. > > > > I think you can string it however you like, using materials which are > > your favorites. > > > > You are correct, in starting octaves at the 6th course. One thing I > > find the best is to have the tension of the octaves at least as > > strong as the fundamentals. There was a practice about 20 years ago, > > in which people used the octave only about 80% of the tension of the > > fundamentals, but this yielded unsatisfactory result, in my > > opinion. This was with Pyramid wound strings and nylon octaves. > > > > I usually use around 2.9 Kg of tension for the 4th course to the 13th > > course. > > > > One thing to keep in mind is that if you use wound - overspun basses > > starting at the 9th course, where the swan extension starts, you may > > not like it (I do not), as the sustain is too great. The very reason > > for the added length for the lower basses is to get a smaller > > diameter string, so gut works beautifully for those courses. For 13 > > course lutes with a rider on 12 & 13, the length is considerably > > shorter, so a wound string may work better in that application; but > > for the swan necks, gut rules. > > > > Good luck! > > > > ed > > At 05:22 PM 10/23/2009, wikla wrote: > > > > > >>And of course I forgot to tell the string lenghts: > >> 8 courses (2 single, 6 double) 69 cm on the fingerboard and > >> 5 (+1) courses 96 cm on the swan extension > >> > >>Arto > >> > >>On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:28:53 +0300, wikla <wi...@cs.helsinki.fi> wrote: > >> > Hi b-lutenists, > >> > > >> > I happened to get a "Martin Hoffmann" lute (with bad stringing) to my > >> > hands. Single strings, old everlasting, and also rosted, Pyramid single > >> > basses etc. There are anyhow enough of pegs to double string everything > >> > below the two top strings... > >> > > >> > I suppose the octave doubles should start on the 6th course, the "A" > >> > (and > >> > of course below). Am I right? > >> > > >> > Any other stringing advice? What string tensions do you use? What > >> > string > >> > materials? > >> > > >> > Arto To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
