Dear list,
five years ago at the Neuburg (Bavaria) Summer Academy I happened
to try an 8 course lute built for a friend of mine by Martin Shepherd:
the strings spacing fitted so perfectly that later on I e-mailed Martin
to have "his" strings spacing. I still use it on all my Renaissance
instruments.
In any case all lutemakers I approached over the last seven years
ALWAYS asked me "my" strings spacing requirements: they NEVER simply
used their without asking first.
Last but not least, I have played a few "exact copies" of museum
instruments: in all cases an extremely narrow strings spacing made them
almost unplayable (to me). Having big hands I don't see why I should
play on a very narrow, mandolin-like neck. What if the original
instrument (aka Gerle...) was originally built for a 10 years old
little girl?
Luca
David Tayler on 14/11/12 18.29 wrote:
It depends on the player, the technique and the size of the hands, the
width of the fingers, etc., but in the critical spacing of the first
three courses I would not go below 5mm center to enter between pairs
and below 11.5 between the chanterelle and the next string over, if the
top string is single. There is a cross point at the plucking point that
is the real figure, that is, the width where the string plucked. As for
the other courses, it also depends on the string material. For an early
style lute, you can also use a "close parallel" spacing, but unless the
maker knows how to do it, I would not try it.
The reach of the hand is important in an eight course instrument, but
that depends on the hand. So at eight courses, you may have to compress
the spacing slightly if reach is an issue. If they live in California,
I can take a look, but otherwise you may have to rely on a generic
pattern, or borrow a few instruments to see if they fit. It's like
buying shoes. You can ask what shoe size you need, but you still have
to wear them. Ninety percent of lutes have the wrong spacing, so it is
worth getting it right when it is built.
dt
--- On Sun, 11/4/12, Jerzy Zak [1]<[email protected]> wrote:
From: Jerzy Zak [2]<[email protected]>
Subject: [LUTE] 8-ch lute strings spacing
To: "lute mailing list list" [3]<[email protected]>
Date: Sunday, November 4, 2012, 5:06 PM
Dear Lutelist,
A student of mine is expacting a new 8-ch lute. The maker has little
experience with an instrument of such number of courses. So we all need
some advice from you. We need a typical spacing on both sides of
strings, aEUR|if there is such "typical" spacing, of course. Anyway, at
least a distance between the outer strings would be of help, if not all
measurements.
Thanks in advance!
Jerzy Z
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