A new student of mine turned up with a Early Music Shop 8c lute. I was impressed with the build quality of the back, neck, pegbox. The soundboard was far too thick. However, the one thing that let it down was the strings were far too close together, almost impossible to play in the bass without a twang. It would make a good starters instrument if it was set up with a new bridge and nut for seven courses. My student is a rather large guy, with a thick thumb, which made playing courses cleanly virtually impossible.
Rob www.robmackillop.net On 22 Jul 2011, at 06:11, Ed Durbrow <[email protected]> wrote: > I concur with Alexander. My 5th, 6th & 7th are more like 5mm at the > bridge. You really have very wide spacing at the nut. Something nearer > to 2mm would be good for me. Is that measurement really within a course > and not between courses? Do you have Segovia finger tips? > > The first thing I would do is change to some plain or gimped gut and > see how that works. Are your strings really low tension? That might be > a consideration. > On Jul 22, 2011, at 2:53 AM, Peter Nightingale wrote: > > Ed, > Here are the string distances measured between the centers of the > strings: > Course 6: 4.1 mm at the bridge and 3.4 mm at the nut. > Course 7: 4.2 mm and 3.6mm, respectively. > Both courses have nylon filament copper overspun bases and nylgut > trebles. > Does that sound like collision courses? > Thanks, > Peter. > On Thu, 21 Jul 2011, Ed Durbrow wrote: > > Are you using overspuns? I think you will find an improvement with > gut of the > > correct thickness and tension. However, please tell us what the > actual > > spacing is. I had this same problem with my current Ren lute when I > first got > > it. It was an 8 course. I had the bridge re-spaced to become a 7 > course and > > the string spacing within a course expanded and that solved the > problem. > > On Jul 21, 2011, at 12:35 PM, Peter Nightingale wrote: > > The lute is an archlute made by Joel van Lennep, who knows what he > does, > > which strongly suggests that I am the problem or maybe the strings. > > Ed Durbrow > > Saitama, Japan > > [1]http://www.musicianspage.com/musicians/9688/ > > [2]http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ > > the next auto-quote is: > In those parts of the world where learning and science have prevailed, > miracles have ceased; but in those parts of it as are barbarous and > ignorant, miracles are still in vogue. > (Ethan Allen) > /\/\ > 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 > [3]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > Ed Durbrow > Saitama, Japan > [4]http://www.musicianspage.com/musicians/9688/ > [5]http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ > > -- > > References > > 1. http://www.musicianspage.com/musicians/9688/ > 2. http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ > 3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > 4. http://www.musicianspage.com/musicians/9688/ > 5. http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ >
