Jon, One advantage of gut frets is that they are slightly elastic, allowing them to be tied onto the tapering neck above their final location. They are then inched down to the proper place and are kept in place by the elasticity of the gut, as long as they don't dry out. I think the cheap Pakistani lutes use nylon strings instead of gut for their frets, and I have heard that they don't stay in place very well. I think your cable ties would have the same problem. I use cable ties in my job sometimes, and there isn't a whole lot of elasticity to them. Today, even lutes with nylon strings will usually have gut frets.
The knot used in tying frets isn't your basic square knot, by the way. It's a special kind of slip knot that can be snugged up tight to the neck. After the knot has been tied and snugged up and the loose ends have been clipped, each end of the cord is partially melted with a soldering iron to form a lump close to the knot. That keeps the knot from unraveling. The whole thing actually has been rather carefully worked out by several centuries of luthiers and lutenists, and as anachronistic as it seems, the system works quite well. A marvelous example of folk design. Tim On Saturday, January 3, 2004, at 01:40 AM, Jon Murphy wrote: > Ladies and gents, > > As I looked at a drawing in Damiani's Method today I noticed the knot > on the > fret to be singular (a bit of artistic license in the drawing). But it > looked to me to be square. I immediately pictured those things we in > the > computer business called "cable tie-ties". Plastic (oh my, anathema) > that > comes in varying lengths and of a thickness that might resemble "fret > gut". > They have a "head" at one end that has an internal "gripper", and the > inside > diameter is serrated so that it can be pulled tight once it surrounds > the > cable. Once attached they can only be adjusted tighter, and have to be > clipped off and replaced if they need to be larger. But a bag of them > is > only a couple of bucks at any electronics store, and they come in > lengths up > to about eight or ten inches, maybe twelve. > > Just a suggestion for those not totally invested with a passion for > absolute > "originality". Or for those needing a "quick fix" when out of the > proper > fret gut supply and facing a broken fret. > > I'd be curious if it would work, I can't try it as my single "lute" is > fixed > fretted (as you all know by now). I haven't measured the thickness of > my > "tie-tie" supply, but it seems to be close to right, and a bit of > shaving > wouln't hurt. > > Best, Jon > > > >
