Dear Mark
They are available here in Europe, I saw quite a good stock at
Wolfgang Frueh's when I got several strings; but Mimmo apparently sold
all his stock at the Greenwich festival.
He was making up new stock, but I don't know whether any had been sent
out to the US prior to this.
I don't know how fast synthetic string making can be? It has to be
extruded (which should be quick), but then perhaps also semi-rectified.
I don't know whether all this is automated, or partly by hand; but I
did hear that two machines were out of order, recently which slowed
production down.
Then of course the strings must be packaged, posted etc. Aquila is not
a huge company, perhaps 30 or so people involved in the NG side of
things (I would guess); but possibly somethings have to be done by
Mimmo himself. Certianly all the chemical research and testing will
have had to be done by Mimmo himself.
$
It is normal practice to have a few people test prototype strings
(usually the same people), and I imagine there may have been feedback
and slight changes, before the strings were deemed ready for sale to
the wider public; when further sets of strings may have again been sent
out to verifiy probable reactions. Sometimes, production goes no
further than these initial tests.
$
I remember when Dan Larson was attempting to make tungsten gimped
strings only a few lutenists had the chance to try them, I believe
there were even a few gold wire ones. I assume production was finally
thought to be too expensive, as I believe reactions were quite positive
to the sound of those strings.
$
I feel sure things will quickly become as it was with the old NG. It is
not really surprising if there is a slight stutter as things swing into
motion.
$
Regards
Anthony
__________________________________________________________________
De : "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
A : Anthony Hind <[email protected]>; [email protected]
Cc : [email protected]
Envoye le : Lun 20 decembre 2010, 3h 31min 16s
Objet : Re: [LUTE] Re: New Nylgut test as Chanterelle
Curtis Daily of Portland, OR reports that he does not know as yet when
he will receive a shipment of NNGs.
Luckily, those most worthy are given them by the string gods, and have
generously reported their virtues.
Thank you, Ed and David.
Mark Seifert
---- Anthony Hind <[1][email protected]> wrote:
>
> Dear Dan
> I am glad this may be a help, but I see you have far more
> experience of nylon strings than I have, so you may not come to
quite
> the same conclusions as I did.
> $
> I wonder whether the Adario string was titanium T2 nylon with
purple
> haze? If so it might have something in common with Titanium Nylon
> fishing line. It would be quite low density allowing a thicker
string
> for the same weight (as I mentionned, once before). However, I
think
> the T2 could seem quite reserved, if compared to the NNG; or the
NNG
> might be heard as quite bright when compared to Ti Nylon (which
ever
> you are used to, possibly).
> $
> The NNG go down to 1.04, I think.
> $
> The US distributor seems to be
> [1][2]http://www.aquilausa.com/
> but I don't know whether they will have the new string.
> $
> Best wishes from snow-sludgy Paris
> Anthony
> $
> $
>
> Daniel Winheld
> Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:12:34 -0800
> Thank you, Anthony- just the kind of report that you do so well, and
> your results will spur me on to get some of the new nylguts (Shall we
> just call them "NNG"?) - chanterelles for my new workhorse
> Renaissance lute and as far down as possible on some of the others-
> 4th course & possibly 5th, if they go as thick as about 1.05 mm.
> For the last month or so I have been using plain nylon on the R-lute
> chanterelle, as even the most durable guts have all shredded their
> way to Gut String Heaven- so the blending of that string with the
> all-gut rest of the lute matters very much. The best nylon
> chanterelle by far that I found was a .46 mm (.018") by D'Addario
> that a student of mine found at a guitar store- but they have just
> stopped making that size. I have been surprised at how different in
> quality, feel, and other subtle factors that nylon strings from
> different sources can be from each other. I
> was coming to really like
> the D'Addarios.
> Anyone know who is dealing the new Nylguts in North America?
> Thanks,
> Dan
> > Dear luthenists
> > Since I believe many gut users will be tempted to use the
New NG
> > for Chanterelles on their lutes, I decided to test them that
way,
> > while keeping all my other strings in gut : my trebles in pure
Aquila
> > gut, my Meanes as Venices, and my bases loaded with mostly
Venice
> > octaves.
> > $
> > I therefore put a 0.44 NG on my 70cm 11c Warwick at 407Hz, and a
42 NG
> > on my 60cm 7c Gerle at 440Hz.
> > $
> > I only have slight direct playing experience with the old
nylgut, as I
> > have mostly used all gut; so my comparison has to be mainly with
treble
> > gut (brightish: Aquila, Keurschner, softer: Baldock and darker:
Gamut,
> > and of course Sofracob).
> > $
> >
> However, I have heard NG on many other people's lutes, and tend to
> > find them coldish sounding (bluish transistor-like),
particularly when
> > a lutenist uses them with warm loaded basses (reddish
valve-like).
> > $
> > When I first looked at the New Nylgut, just as Ed Martin has
reported,
> >
[1][2][3]http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg0
2195.h
> > tml
> > my initial impression was that the feel was much better than the
old
> > nylgut, and that the colour was closer to gut, although still
slightly
> > whiter than Aquila gut, but certainly nothing noticeable at,
say, a
> > meter's distance.
> > $
> > I was a little surprised when setting light to the end of the
string
> > (as one does) to find that it broke into flame. I swiftly put it
> out,
> > and all was well (I dare say that is always what happens with
> > synthetics), a little ball had formed without splitting the
string as
> > sometimes happens with gut.
> > $
> > The second surprise was when I started to raise the tension of
the 44NG
> > on the 70cm lute. There was a sudden stretch, with quite a few
extra
> > turns of the peg (compared with gut), before some stabilisation
set-in.
> > I wondered about this, as it had been said that the new string
was less
> > flexible than the old Nylgut. In fact, I didn't notice this so
much
> > with the 42NG on the 60cm lute.
> > However, in both cases, when the string has finally stabilised,
it did
> > feel about as stiff as gut (and certainly stiffer than the old
nylgut).
> > $
> > I think Ed is quite right to have left his New Nylgut strings to
settle
> > for a day and a night before
> testing them. I put the chanterelle on in
> > the morning, and tried it out on the 70cm lute in the afternoon.
My
> > initial impression was of loudness, as mentionned by Ed, but
with a
> > slightly over-bright sound, and more surface noise pick up than
on the
> > older lower gut trebles.
> > This, however had more or less dissappeared by the second day.
The
> > string remains fairly bright yet warmer than the Old Nylgut, but
with
> > excellent sustain. I now feel it blends in rather well with the
lower
> > gut Aquila trebles.
> > $
> > I have often remarked that a string can lend its qualities and
defects
> > to surrounding strings, but I hadn't noticed to what extent this
was
> > true of a chanterelle. All the treble strings, particularly on
my
> > Renaissance lute, seemed to have gained slightly in sustain and
> > dynamics from the new string. I liked
> this, but some may prefer a
> > slightly duller sound.
> > $
> > The string seems about as stiff under the finger as an Aquila
gut top
> > string; and I would hazard a guess that it is this string ideal
(his
> > strong treble) that Mimmo was striving to achieve, with a good
strong
> > clear sound.
> > Now I wonder whether it would blend in quite so well with
softer Gamut
> > or Baldock lower trebles?
> > $
> > I noticed that the 70cm string took longer to stabilze than the
60cm
> > one. I don't know whether that was due to the difference in
length or
> > in thickness, but two days is not very long, and lutenists do
have to
> > be patient. It was confirmed for me by a serious nylgut user
that this
> > new string does stabilise quicker than the Old Nylgut.
> > $
> > I personally thought there was quite a big difference between
the old
> >
> and the new type, and this would seem to be the opinion of some
other
> > gut users (Ed and a neighbour who tried my two lutes).
> > However, nylgut users (and lovers), from discussions on the net,
do not
> > seem to be quite so conscious of the difference. One serious
Nylgut
> > user told me that they were about 97% the same as the old
nylgut, but
> > with better colour and stability, as well as greater clarity on
the top
> > string.
> > Gut users probably have different expectations of a string, and
I feel
> > that the New Nylgut, at least as a chanterelle, gets closer to
my ideal
> > than the old one did.
> > This is my opinion, based on my own string experience, which
will
> > evidently vary from player to player.
> > $
> > In short, Mimmo seems to have combined his skills as a chemical
> > engineer with his extensive historical string knowledge, to
> come quite
> > close to his ideal strong gut treble, in accordance with his
> > historical string theory set out on his web pages: it is clear,
strong
> > and projecting well, with good sustain, but once settled in not
too
> > loud and with a good feel.
> > $
> > Now will I be keeping this string on both lutes? At present, I
am very
> > tempted to leave it on my Renaissance lute (where the string
breaks
> > much more often), but a little less for my Baroque lute.
> > I remain a gut user at heart, but I feel this is a very good
substitute
> > when you want a string that will last, but without sacrificing
too much
> > sound quality. Indeed, perhaps, as I said, in terms of sustain,
there
> > might be a little gain.
> > $
> > This is my opinion after three days in use.
> > $
> > Meanwhile, I am looking forward to hearing a lute with loaded
> basses,
> > otherwise entirely strung with New Nylgut, including octaves.
This
> > configuration did not work too well (in my opinion) when I heard
it
> > with Old Nylgut, but New Nylgut might just be warm enough.
> > Regards
> > Anthony
> --
>
> --
>
> References
>
> 1. [4]http://www.aquilausa.com/
> 2.
[5]http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg02195.h
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
> [6]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. mailto:[email protected]
2. http://www.aquilausa.com/
3. http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg02195.h
4. http://www.aquilausa.com/
5. http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg02195.h
6. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
