Dear Rebecca, I'm no professional but I've seen a few play and they all seem to have tied frets.
Fixed, I assume, would mean the frets are metal and imbedded in the neck like a classical guitar. Tied would mean a loop of gut string around the neck with a knot to keep it very tight and mostly immoble, ie, you could move it if you *really* tried. There is a historical use of metal frets from the time of your lute but they were only used on wire strung instruments such as citterns and, slightly later, orpharions and bandoras. Your DRBL6c sounds like a very nice instrument. I recommend tied. It will be true to the original and no more difficult to play. Your luthier will put on the frets and they should last a long time. When you bring it home mark a stick or the edge of a manilla folder where the frets are and you can always push them back to their homes if they stray. all the best, Sean Smith On Sep 1, 2006, at 3:42 PM, Rebecca Banks wrote: > > September 1st, 2006 > > Dear Lutenists: > > I am having a Dieffopruchar Renaissance Bass Lute 6c. > constructed and > am wondering if I should have fixed or tied frets. What does it > mean to > have a tied fret, what does it mean to have a fixed fret? I would > like to > remain true to the original model construction but do not want the > Lute to > be too difficult to play. Are there any observations or opinions > of > professional Lutenists on this matter? What are the frets like on > your > instrument, how does it play? > > with thanks, > > Rebecca Banks > Tea at Tympani Lane Records > [1]www.tympanilanerecords.com > > References > > 1. http://www.tympanilanerecords.com/ > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
