On Fri, 22 Jul 2011, Alexander Batov wrote: > Hi Peter, > > I don't thinks your maker did anything wrong, not at all. I'm guessing of > course but it looks like he simply replicated the sting spacing (well, at > least on the bridge, I'm not so sure about the nut ...) from the bridge(s) of > one of the original archlute or theorbo (a few of those have indeed survived > with their original bridges intact). If this is the case, the distance > between individual strings in courses as little as 4.0 mm and even less would > be 'fairly' normal. To give just one, rather 'extreme' example: the original > bridge of a theorbo by Martinus Kaiser (E.24, Musee de la Musique, Paris) has > about 3.3 - 3.5 mm between the strings of the 6th course; and this is for the > string length at c. 88.5 cm! I don't know what the string length of your > archlute is but if it is, say, within 57 - 64 cm, then 4 mm would be about > right (perhaps even on a wider side!) by the 'old standards'.
The top seven courses are 66 cm. I think it's a somewhat unusal instrument that began its life as a theorbo made by some luthier whose name I do not know and was transgendered to its current form by Van Lennep for the person from whom I bought it You can see the thing here: http://www.phys.uri.edu/~nigh/lute/ (there are 6 picures, but only tow appear at the same time.) > So again, with such close spacing, a lot depends on where you pluck the > strings ... Although not an archlute but perhaps something like this > would work: > > http://www.klassiskgitar.net/unknown17-portraitofalut.html I think I have gravitated ed a little to that automatically already, because p-i is not so practical if p is otherise employed. > > Good luck! Thanks, Peter. the next auto-quote is: I would rather be the offspring of two apes than be a man and afraid to face the truth. (Thomas Huxley) /\/\ 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
