Mostly agreements another 2 more cents. At 11:25 AM 5/23/04, you wrote: >Hello, may I do some suggestions about nylgut? >Here the first, usefull to stabilize nylgut immediately: stretch generously >by hands each nylgut strings in the midele of the length of bone to bridge >during the tuning and stop this operation only when they have'nt any more >displacement and stay in tune. By this operation, made with attention on the >top string only, nylgut stay in tune quite immediately.
This is a good idea for most strings but don't pull up (I mean away from the XIIth fret more than necessary --I use two fingers and push the string in opposite directions). Yes this helps, Mimmo. but gut also stabilizes quicker this way. Nylgut should move easily over the nut (even moreso w/ a little beeswax). If you do notice it hanging up on the nut then check it if for burrs or binding or it will cause headaches later. >Second: it is true that nylgut have the same gut density but they have a >greater displacement than gut. So if you have a gut of .44 mm gauge do not >replace with a .44 nylgut but with a .46 gauge. I should have pointed this out too. Maybe after stretching up to pitch a .46 diameter comes down to .44? >About the colour: yes, the white colour is strange but came out from the >treatment that I make on the material in the production phase. I have made >some tests to switch the colour to gut-yellow but the result was much more >crazy than. Ah, well, thanks for trying. Of course I was kidding about blue, green and striped (this for Arto). How did the plaid and polkadot tests work out? ;^) >About the tuning stability: after tuning and stabilization nylgut stay in >tune pretty well than gut; due to the fact that water absorbition is less >than 0.1% against 1% of Tynex-nylon and 20% of gut. That's consistent w/ what I've noticed in use. They don't absorb as much finger oil and dirt either which keeps the fingerboard portion more in tune. I've noticed --and I'd like to hear from others on this-- that whereas a gut treble string will go sharp at the 7th fret w/ age a nylgut tends to go a little flat. My reasoning is that the gut absorbs oils on the fret board and gains weight there. Since the 7th fret divides the string into 1/3 and 2/3 lengths the weight ratios no longer follows the length ratios (the greater weight being between the nut and the 7th fret). Nylgut on the other hand goes ever so slightly flat. I'm not sure why--perhaps the wear on the fingerboard portion decreases the weight there? Or perhaps there is oil build-up on the plucking area? (I've never tried cleaning that area. Maybe I should :^) >It is strange that nylgut came out like harder than gut. Normally complains >are viceversa. Harder only in the sense that they wear out the fretgut quicker. >Aquila V type are called 'Venice' strings: they are similar to the NRI >catlines but with a rectified smooth surface. >Gamut (Dan...) are called Pystois strings. I suppose thay are made like my >Venice. Venice (and Pistoys) sound very nice on pre-1600 music. Yes, they are a little more expensive than metal-wound, need a little learning and react more to weather but they are a real eye-opener on understanding the texture of the music. Thanks for writing in, Mimmo. Nice to know the manufacturer is accessible Sean
