Well, just for a giggle, here is a totally opposite speculation:
from Samuel Pepys' diary:
"This day Mr Caesar told me a pretty
experiment of his, of angling with a minikin, a gut string varnished over
which keeps it from swelling and is beyond any hair for strength and
smallness. The secret I like mightily!"
Please note, that the minikin is the top lute string, and note the
"smallness" exceeding that of the horse hair. Now, how's that for a
speculation?...
alexander
On Wed, 06 Oct 2010 05:53:47 -0400, Anthony Hind <[email protected]>
wrote:
Dear Martyn
"This seems a very retrograde step. Surely if we are wishing to hear
something even approaching how the Old Ones sounded we ought to
eschew treble strings which are so very different from what they had.
"
Martyn
I think I would agree with you, I was informing but not
advocating.
While there are strong arguments for gut having been made more dense
by
loading of basses so as to obtain a less "tubby" sound), there is none
(as far as I know) in favour of some treatment that lowers its
intrinsic density for trebles (for a less bright sound),
!!
although
there
is speculation that historic top strings may have been thicker than
they are today (I believe) and so perhaps less bright sounding.
!!
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