So does the end with the hook go on the bridge or the nut?
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Kieffer Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2010 8:08 PM To: Eugene C. Braig IV Cc: Stathis Skandalidis; [email protected] Subject: [LUTE] Re: Carbon strings? I've been using carbon fishing line for some time now for just the top 'g' string on my 10 course lute. It works tremendously well, lasts incredibly long, and is about 1000 times cheaper than "lute string." If you live in any big or medium sized city, you should be able to find a store with the right diameter fishing line. They have the perfect diameters for the top string, I've tried anything from .36 mm to .42 mm. Make sure you don't get wound fishing line, because it won't stretch, of course. It just comes apart. Just yesterday I bought 140 meters of fishing line at .41mm diameter. It was around $20 Canadian. This new line has been on my lute for a day now, and it sounds and works amazing. I break the top string quite a bit, and having 140 meters of the top string is comforting. (If you're in a concert and the g string breaks...what are you going to do...go backstage and put another gut string on it, and then wait for it to settle in and then break again? Or you can just unravel some fishing line, stick it on there, and bam. It doesn't need any time to stretch or get settle really.) IMO, it's much better to go with this option, than it is to order strings online from expensive sources (*and many times unreliable). Also, when you order that stuff online, you pay huge shipping costs, and you have to wait 1-2 weeks (or 4 or 5). I've wasted a lot of money ordering actual lute strings when my top string would break. I've had very bad experiences with gut when it comes to the top g string... it's just not worth the effort or money if you ask me. I was weary at first about using fishing line, but when I put it on the lute and started playing, it was a miracle. And then I just keep the remaining 139 meters of string in the case... .40 mm tends to be on the larger side for fishing line. but almost all outdoor and fishing stores have it (and anything from .38-.48). They will probably think you are some fly fishing expert Paul On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 6:09 PM, Eugene C. Braig IV <[1][email protected]> wrote: Not all fluorocarbon fishing lines make good strings. I've had pretty poor luck with Berkley's house brand of fluorocarbon fishing line. Under continuous tension (e.g., as an instrument string), I have found it to fray and lose intonation along its length. I've had much better luck with P-Line CFX flourocarbon fly fishing leader material. It's much more expensive than large spools of line, but still much less expensive than an equivalent length of gut string. Most of the fluorocarbon made for fishing you'll find will be ca. 0.5 mm or thinner. Best, Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: [2][email protected] [mailto:[3][email protected]] On > Behalf Of Stathis Skandalidis > Sent: Monday, June 07, 2010 5:04 PM > To: [4][email protected] > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Carbon strings? > > Dear Arto, > according to Makoto Tsuruta and his intuitive site > [1][5]http://www.crane.gr.jp/CRANE_Strings/strings_linesE.html it's the > same material. > As I am living on an island, it is quite easy at least for me to find > fishing line. > Regardless your place of residence there are many on-line shops where > you could order it from. > A 25 m spool Seaguar Grand Max fishing line 0.405mm diameter costs > around 10 euros. That spool could give you 3 dozens of strings for a > g-lute, not a bad business at all! > Stathis > __________________________________________________________________ > > From: wikla <[6][email protected]> > To: [7][email protected] > Sent: Mon, June 7, 2010 11:31:23 PM > Subject: [LUTE] Carbon strings? > Dearest lute gang, > one question about the "carbon" string material (=high density > hydrocarbon > polymer): > I have been using it much, but I have always ordered it from lute > string > makers. But as far as I know, this material was developed for a non > lute > world (fishing?). So, does anyone here really know, if the lute string > "carbon" and the fishing line "carbon" are the same thing and the same > quality? If yes, please let me know, where to get this quality "fishing > carbon"? I guess the fishers order their stuff in 100's of meters, and > to > me a couple of meters is the maximum per one string. In the fisher's > way, > those "unpackaged" strings could be _very_ economical to us lutenists? > Arto > To get on or off this list see list information at > [2][8]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > > References > > 1. [9]http://www.crane.gr.jp/CRANE_Strings/strings_linesE.html > 2. [10]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. mailto:[email protected] 5. http://www.crane.gr.jp/CRANE_Strings/strings_linesE.html 6. mailto:[email protected] 7. mailto:[email protected] 8. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html 9. http://www.crane.gr.jp/CRANE_Strings/strings_linesE.html 10. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
