Mornin', Bill,
Ends? Starting w/ a coil, I burn a ball onto it then pass it under the
strings. Then I tie the overhand knot around the string leading to the
coil. The string leading to the coil is what I pull and sever with the
burn. That burned end becomes the ball for the next fret. I don't have
any ends left over.
As for pliers. I only kinda need them for the first fret. One lute
wants a 1.2mm fret at the first which is a pain in the neck, so to
speak.
Hope this helps.
Sean
On May 1, 2012, at 8:49 AM, William Samson wrote:
Talking of parsimony with string material - I really grudge the
ends I
need to trim off my fret gut after tying the knot. Effectively I'm
throwing away at least as much as I'm keeping. I have tried shorter
ends and pulling them tight with pliers, but don't feel comfortable
with these sharp, scratchy pliers near my precious lutes.
Anybody found a way to save on fret gut?
Bill
From: Sean Smith <[email protected]>
To: lute <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, 30 April 2012, 20:33
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Stringing a lute
I call that extra tied on bit a leader. If I use a less stretchy
material I know I'll have less spring between peg and nut which
speeds
and stabilizes tuning. That w/ a bit of beeswax at the nut makes for
quicker work.
The other reason I'll use it is economy. Sometimes I can get two
lengths from a string that would give only one w/out a leader --or
three from a nominally two-length string. If I'm _really_ in a pinch
the knot will start off between the nut and the 1st fret and just lie
behind the nut when tuned up which is not for the faint of heart. I
have many different size lutes so I'm constantly measuring and
planning.
Sometimes I'll use a slightly larger diameter gut string or a hemp
string. Back in the late 70's my lute teacher (a master of string
parsimony) advocated good old kitchen string.
Sean
ps Ha! 3 folks already answered while it took me the same time to
oversay the same thing. Hell, I'll send it anyway.
On Apr 30, 2012, at 12:02 PM, Alain wrote:
Hi everyone,
When stringing a lute, some people like to cut the strings a little
above the nut and tie them with a knot to some non-elastic material
like rope or synthetic fiber of some kind that is wound to the peg.
What are the advantages of proceeding this way as opposed to just
keeping the string whole?
Alain
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