I agree, Francesco. But, I want to announce a new kind of gut bass string just developed by Dan Larson. He has significantly improved the gimped bass strings; instead of copper wire with gut, he now offers sterling silver wire gimped strings. They are most beautiful in appearance. He dyed them black, so the contrast of sterling & black gut is striking.
But, the sound is fantastic. First of all, they are the same diameter if one was using a loaded string, but it is wire rather than loading. Another positive thing is that they are significantly louder that the copper gimped, and much, much brighter. As well, they are true. I tried a set, and found them all perfectly true. He says that the sterling wire is much more flexible that the copper, and thus has a better sound with slightly more sustain. Also, sterling is heavier than copper, and therefore it makes for a resulting smaller diameter string. He also says that silver wire comes in a great variety of diameters, and therefore he can better calculate the weights and sizes to match the correct combination of gut & sterling silver. He will be in England for the next week, but after that time he will be taking orders. ed At 01:51 AM 11/9/2005 +0100, Francesco Tribioli wrote: >For me the gut basses are the *real* reason to play with gut strings. > >I can bear high strings in nylon, even carbon chanterelle, the difference is >not so big, but I really don't bear overspun basses, especially for >Reinassance music but I would say for all music expect late Baroque. Their >overboosted volume, the guitar like timbre so different from that of the >higher courses and the long sustain just disrupt the tonal balance of the >lute. Listen to the Dowland or Bach by Jacob Lindberg, recorded with the >Mimmo's loaded basses, for an example of perfect tonal balance (IMHO of >course) > >Francesco > > > Maybe it is because the overspun bass strings sound so bloody > > good compared to the altenitives. It's nice to have the > > clarity and sustain in the bass range instead of a thud. Of > > course I know there are those who don't like the overspun > > bass strings just for the reasons you have mentioned. It is > > not too dificult to deaden the bass response when necessary > > with overspuns, as opposed to just allowing it to fade out > > naturally as is the practice of some with more traditional strings. > > > > Vance Wood. > > > >To get on or off this list see list information at >http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (218) 728-1202
