Sean
David Tayler says he uses "normal" gut for fretting (ie string-gut).
I suppose fretting-gut is usually a rejected gut material from other
uses, or is this not so?
Could it be that a fairly hard specially made gut is chosen.
Carlos Gonzales on the French lute list advocates using gut frets with
gut strings, and nylgut frets with synthetics.
Nylgut frets with gut strings apparently tend to cut the playing
strings too quickly.
Regards
Anthony
I agree. I've never tried nylon frets but I can plainly see how nylon
and nylgut strings wear gut frets down quicker than gut strings --and
metalwounds even quicker. I would imagine the nylon frets would last a
long time (as was mentioned earlier) but at the expense of the gut
strings.
Where possible I try to use old string gut over what is sold for fret
gut especially for frets A-F. Somehow I think it is more dense and
stable but I could be wrong. Here in the USofA a nice compromise is the
Purrlgut/Gourdbanjo site (http://www.gourdbanjo.com/).
I still wonder if, in absence of more exact measurement, in actual 6-c
historical practice, lutenists could probably get by with 3 basic
gauges for all string necessities: ~.42, ~.50 and ~.60 (just guessing
of course; I don't have my striing gauge chart in front of me). These
are what I generally find works for the top 3 courses. Further, these
would work well enough --though slightly slack-- as the octaves on the
lower 3 courses and even be roped for bass fundamental strings. Again,
they are just graded enough for fret duty and could be filed down as
necessary if they stand too proud. Mind you, it's just an internal
personal hypothesis.
all the best,
Sean
On May 11, 2008, at 6:43 AM, Leonard Williams wrote:
On 5/11/08 5:50 AM, "gary digman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I've always done it this way (bridge to nut), allows one to "pull"
the fret
into place over a longer portion of the neck ensuring a snug fit,
except for
the fret closest to the nut of course.
Gary
Ditto. The hardest one to get really snug is No. 1.
Leonard Williams
/[ ]
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Sean Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Lute Net" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 3:07 PM
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Frets
One question. When redoing an entire neck of frets I've always
from the
little frets and worked my way to the nut. Do others do it this
way too?
Sean
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