Hi Nancy, I've never used the NRI twisted strings because I never thought they would work on the watch-key tuners (too big and stiff to twist into another loop). This is just to say that I'm no expert, but it does sound to me like it's coming apart. How hard to you press down on the strings? I've had plain brass strings on for years without breaking or loss of tone, but the twisted ones are, I think, made from softer material.
How do they sound? I've always been curious about them. What bass strings to use on my 18th-c citterns has always been a big question mark. Right now I'm using Newtones - they're great strings, but sound like modern steel-string guitar strings (which is what they are). I'd like to try wound strings with an iron or brass core, and asked Malcolm Newtone about it, but he seemed a little hesitant. I did have some from Pyramid once, but they weren't very good - the core broke but the winding stayed put. Perhaps I got a bad set. Silk core is okay, but doesn't match that well with the plain strings. I've also tried Portuguese guitarra strings, but again, very modern sounding. Doc Rossi To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
