i was in the same position several years ago and instead of getting one of the ump-teen course instruments which some on the list play, i got an oud. they tend not to be too expensive and if you're comfortable with the guitar, it shouldn't be too difficult to adapt to. they have the added bonus of versatility, if you feel you'd like to add nylon frets (i did - the david van edwards site is useful for that info.). their necks tend to be narrow, however. as robert so humorously pointed out, most aren't made to to go to war with - quite the opposite, in fact.
if any of this sounds of interest, mike's ouds is a good place to start: http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/index.php and you should be able to get a good quality, egyptian made instrument on ebay. buona fortuna! - bill --- Robert Clair <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > BTW, metal frets (aside from being fixed) do ruin > the sound. > > On what do you base this statement ? I'm one of the > few people (I > think) who have actually done the experiment. A long > time ago I > bought a (non-battleship) lute that someone had > inexplicably taken to > a luthier for fretting with metal frets. I then paid > the same luthier > (a friend who spared me no ribbing about lunatic > lute players) to > remove those frets and fill the slots in the finger > board. The > difference between the instrument with metal frets > and the same > instrument with gut frets was... not audible. One > might expect a > slight difference since the gut is more compliant > than metal and is > thus a source of a bit of extra damping, but any > such difference is > tiny and much smaller than the difference in sound > between different > string types. > > You can check for yourself: take a small metal rod > (the point of a > cheap pencil compass will work) and slip it under > the string near a > fret. Hold it *FIRMLY* in place and, using a bit of > contortion, hold > it and fret the string with one hand and pluck with > the other. (You > may also use an assistant, preferably one with a > dazzling smile and > a sequined costume.) Remove it and pluck again. > Repeat several times. > Did you notice the sound being ruined ? > > Most lutes that you encounter with metal frets *do* > sound terrible - > but that's because they are most likely to be heavy, > guitar-like, > "battleship" lutes. The terrible sound is the fault > of their design > and construction not of the metal frets. > > I'm certainly not advocating metal frets - I like > unequal > temperament, being able to replace them myself and > besides, metal one > just plain look ugly. > > But I'm always amazed when people make sweeping > generalizations based > on little to no evidence. > > Bob > > > -- > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > "and thus i made...a small vihuela from the shell of a creepy crawly..." - Don Gonzalo de Guerrero (1512), "Historias de la Conquista del Mayab" by Fra Joseph of San Buenaventura. go to: http://www.charango.cl/paginas/quieninvento.htm ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
