Been there, done that. Then my fingers started fraying. (just kidding) Al ----- Original Message ----- From: "The Other" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Miles Dempster" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 6:40 PM Subject: Re: Gut strings - chanterelle
> On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 08:28:56 -0500, Miles Dempster > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > So: A gut chanterelle is the most desirable and yet the most fragile. > > > As far as I understand it, the glue, which has a very low surface > > tension, quickly penetrates the fibres, and has the effect of binding > > them together. In my experience, the string will resist much longer > > before starting to degrade and fray. > > 02/05/05 > > Hello Miles, > > I'd heard of bass viol players using Lanolin Oil on their gut bass strings > to keep them in good shape during changes in humidity. So I decided to > try them on the lute gut strings to see if it would help with the fraying > problem, as well as humidity problems. > > I got a bottle (4oz, 118ml) of pure Lanolin Oil (about the consistancy of > thick honey) from www.herbalremedies.com for $4.19 US plus shipping, and > tried it out. > > I used a cotton cloth to rub all courses down with the Lanolin Oil. Then > I had to retune, since the oil is so thick it changed the effective > diameter of the strings! > > Seemed to work holding down the fraying problem, until I noticed that the > rubbing cloth was beginning to cause the treble strings to fray. Oh well. > > My next thought it so apply the Lanolin Oil to my finger tips before > playing, and see if that will help ease the fraying problem. > > Always searching.... > "The Other" Stephen Stubbs, Champaign, IL USA > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
