Hi, Overspun strings get dull when they get old but the sustain stays about the same. A player who uses a damping technique on overspuns in stead of foam rubber or other such contraptions is Hoppy.
If one doesn't feel like using gut strings, I find the KF harpstrings of Savarez a pretty good substitute. There is a conversion table on their website to make life easier. Check out http://www.savarez.fr/anglais/harpe.html You get to the conversion table via the menu item "chart comparatif" In my experience these bass strings work best at a tension of 21 to 24N. My 2pence Lex Op 21 feb 2013, om 08:31 heeft Ed Durbrow het volgende geschreven: > Or you can just use them for about 20 years. They get pretty dull by then. > > On Feb 21, 2013, at 1:59 PM, Herbert Ward <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> One often hears that overspun strings >> sustains too long, compared with gut strings. >> >> Thus it seems strange that I've never >> seen anyone damp overspun strings with >> foam rubber. >> >> Is is easy to control the amount >> of damping by using dampers of different sizes, >> or by sliding dampers farther or closer >> to the bridge. >> >> Strings damped this way don't sound like gut, >> but for some pieces I find them a significant >> improvement. >> >> If you're lucky enough to have yellow >> foam rubber instead of pink, the dampers >> will match the soundboard rather well. >> >> Alternatively, there are also opportune times, >> notably at the end of pieces, when you can damp >> a string with your thumb to good effect. >> >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > Ed Durbrow > Saitama, Japan > http://www.youtube.com/user/edurbrow?feature=watch > http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ > > > >
