Hello Bill- Here is an assessment of the new Nylgut I gave to a friend of mine off-list. I thing it is appropriate to your queries. For my friend, the comparison was to real gut, which he prefers.
"Oh yes- the strings. (new Nylgut) I am giving them a trial on a few instruments right now. They are absolutely great on the Harris-Barber Chambure vihuela, slight loss of slightly richer gut sound more than compensated by a more open, distinct & extroverted quality to the overtones, better overall balance. They only work well to the 4th course, 5th is OK but KFG is better, actually more "gut like" where I need it on this instrument. Baroque lute- works very well down to and including the 5th course, but not as positive a move as on the vihuela. Probably better for performance outside of the living room, but for bestest possible exquisite tone color back to gut, eventually. 8-course Larson tenor lute- a life saver on the 1st course. Best transition yet from a synthetic to gut. I temporarily have nng on courses 2 & 3 as well, not bad, but I hear the subtle transition to the gut range at the 4th. Possible performance coming up in December, back to gut on 2 & 3 after that one. Unthinkable to try on 6 course lute (N.B. - an older 6 course, model based on the 15th cent. Arnault de Zwolle lute plans, but w/6 courses). Got some high-twist strings on 6 & 5 from Dlugolecki- seems to resemble more than other guts what Mimmo has described as the most typical kind of bass fundamental for 15th - mid 16th century lute string. That lute is all gut all the time. So yes, they are medium-large step from old nylgut in the right direction, but like the indefatigable frog from Zeno's Paradox the distance to gut sound may be halved, and halved again, but will probably not be absolutely closed. But he should keep trying- the more options the better." To you, Bill- i find the new NG preferable to the old NG in that it is more gut-like, and easier on the eyes than the dead-bone white color of the old stuff. And sounds truer & and clearer further down than plain nylon, which for me poops out after the 3rd course, although I used it on 4th until Fluorocarbon came along. I have one instrument that I use as an uber-synthetic guinea pig; that is a small archlute. Nylon 1st & 2nd (Fluorocarbon much too thin and tight to sound good to my ear on those courses) then Fluorocarbon on 3, 4, & 5 (all unisons) then Savarez KFG for all the rest which are the 6th course in unison, then a single 7 (on the fingerboard) and all the long Diapasons. Don't know how well the KFG would work for all your basses on a single pegbox 10 course, (In particular the 9th & 10th) but certainly could work for the rest. You might well have to bite the bullet & shell out for Larson's Pistoy or Gimps on at least 9 and 10 if you are determined (as I have been) ! to avoid wirewounds. Looks like Mimmo's equally expensive loaded guts are off the table indefinitely. Some wirewounds may work if all else fails, Dan Larson has gut core wirewounds that are easier on the ears than others, and easier on the pocket book too- but they go out of tune a lot. Dan On Nov 26, 2011, at 8:41 AM, William Samson wrote: > Dear Collective Wisdom, > Up until now I've mostly used nylon for my lute strings and it seems to > be the case that nylon can't be used below the third course because > fretted notes will not be true due to the material being too stiff. > I have successfully used ordinary gut for a 4th course without > problems. I am also aware that high-twist gut, roped gut and loaded gut > work well on lower courses, but cost a lot. > Does anybody know how nylgut, 'new' nylgut and fluorocarbon behave as > 4th course strings? Are any of them satisfactory? Or would wound > strings be needed? > Any insights will be gratefully received, as I am planning to re-string > my 10c lute - I'd like to stick with synthetics for cost reasons, but > would also like to minimise the use of wound strings as far as > possible. > Thanks in advance! > Bill > PS I have also posted this discussion on lutegroup.ning.com - > apologies for cross posting > > -- > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
