I do something similar to that, especially with my alto which has a relatively short sounding length. However, rather than wrap the extra around the pegbox, I just make a little coil of the extra string, much like you see on a lot of folk guitars. The main thing is to avoid any sharp bends, which could weaken the string or perhaps make it false.
Guy -----Original Message----- From: Sean Smith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 2:28 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [LUTE] Re: knots I think you could make this work, Peter, though I don't know about, say, a 10-c where the 5th and 6th course is quite far from the nut. Probably it's ok but see below. First tie the bridge off and send the other end through the peg hole but leave more string to wind than you usually would. The idea is to let the string on the peg take the tension instead of the peghole. At each peg rotation send the free end of the string through first so it doesn't get folded against the back wall of the peg box during the rotation. And then take it up to tension making sure to keep a little bit of tension on the stringw/ your one hand while winding w/ the other. Voila (da mano!) Then wrap the excess string around the pegbox. I find I can do this w the 5th and 6th courses and would probably work as well w/ the more diapasons. Later when the string needs changing just loosen the string, untie the bridge and use the previously free end to come down to the bridge. This works best on whatever strings are wound close to the nut. If you are worried about the crimp from the right-angle at the peg hole take the string off and find a way to suspend it for a few days w/ a modest weight (far less than the working tension). Try not to introduce any new crimps, of course! If you have further questions I could send you some photos or maybe put them up on the new-dandy lute page of Danny Shoskes'. best regards, Sean On Thursday, May 22, 2008, at 12:46PM, "Peter Nightingale" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >On Thu, 22 May 2008, Sean Smith wrote: > >> >> Hi Peter, >> >> If it's one of those expensive roped gut basses you can just wrap the >> excess around the pegbox. I noted Jacob Herringmann doing this in 2000 >> and since then I've gotten a lot more milage (ropage?) from them. There >> are some things to remember and I'll give you some notes on this but I'm >> at work and I'm not sure this pertains to your case yet. >Sean, > >Yes, I'm talking about expensive gut basses and I like your >keep-it-in-one-piece idea, because it avoids the scenario from hell in >which I cut a perfect, long string in two only to find that both halves >have become equally useless. > >It seems that your suggestion only works if I have enough dangling excess >gut so that the part that connects to the peg does not have to become part >of the vibrating string after the string breaks, because I suspect that >the part that wraps around the peg will be damaged an weakened. With 3 >meters of gut to begin with and a vibrating string length of 140.5 cm it >should work, but I have to check the details and who knows what's in your >notes ... > >Thanks, >Peter. > >> >> Otherwise for smaller strings, leaders are your best bet. Heat a small >> ball on the end of each gut and use overhand knots (or figure eight >> knots) that pass through each other. Gut-to-gut works great but >> nylon-to-gut can get frustrating. >> >> All the best, >> Sean >> >> >> On Thursday, May 22, 2008, at 10:04AM, "Peter Nightingale" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> Dear All, >>> >>> A while back --July 2004! How on earth did I remember that?-- there was >>> an exchange about cutting strings to get two for the price of one. Ed >>> Dubrow wrote about Nylgut "I can get two strings as long as I can tie an >>> extra length to reach the peg." I have a similar situation with gut: 3 >>> meters of gut and a string length of 140.5 cm. Not enough for two strings, >>> but too much to throw away. >>> >>> Am I inviting trouble if I attempt Ed's barrel/blood knot with gut? How >>> about figure eight knot >>> (<http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8boating/index.php>) at the bridge or >>> peg end to save precious centimeters? >>> >>> Thanks, >>> Peter. >>> >>> the next auto-quote is: >>> One of the great achievements of science has been, if not to >>> make it impossible for intelligent people to be religious, >>> then at least to make it possible for them not to be religious. >>> (Steven Weinberg) >>> /\/\ >>> Peter Nightingale Telephone (401) 874-5882 >>> Department of Physics, East Hall Fax (401) 874-2380 >>> University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 02881 >>> >>> >>> >>> To get on or off this list see list information at >>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >>> >>> >> >> > >the next auto-quote is: >In the fullness of time, educated people will believe there is no soul >independent of the body, and hence no life after death. >(Francis Crick) >/\/\ >Peter Nightingale Telephone (401) 874-5882 >Department of Physics, East Hall Fax (401) 874-2380 >University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 02881 > > > >
