Michael, Fleta was a really interesting chap. Years ago I had chance to play a colleague's Fleta, it almost played itself to was so co-operative!!!
In lutes, I've read that 1.) the harder the wood the ribs are made of, the louder the lute, and 2.) towards the end of the 16th century makers started to use Yew for the ribs, simply because large amounts of it had been freed up from military uses. It seems that the use of woods like ebony increased as well. Were these makers looking for more forward projection in their instruments Or was it just a matter of having new "exotic" materials to experiment with? ( or both? ) Imagine the advertisements: "New for 1587 Ebony and Snakewood 7 course models!!!" Chad Original Message ----- From: Michael Thames<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: lute<mailto:[email protected]> ; Chad McAnally<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2005 6:15 PM Subject: Re: Built-in action? Double frets > I've built both harps and guitars and it seems less >important what the back and sides are made of versus >how they are made;( ....within reason....I wouldn't make >guitar sides of delrin or concrete!) >I.e. that they are of the right thickness to resonate and still >be strong enough to support to the soundboard seems the >real key. >Chad Chad, I second that emotion. Each wood contributes to the tone in one way or another. But who can really say one is better than the other. Maple makes great guitars and lutes, as does ebony or rosewood. Lacote, thought so little of the effect of the back and sides that he just used pine, with a veneer over it. Fleta, actually made his own plywood from rosewood and spruce, for the back, and sides, and used this on what he called his "international models", to prevent cracking of the back. Michael Thames www.ThamesClassicalGuitars.com<http://www.thamesclassicalguitars.com/> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chad McAnally" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> To: "lute" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2005 10:50 PM Subject: Re: Built-in action? Double frets > Hi Tony, -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
