Talk of tastini has gotten me wondering, what is the best material for
body frets? I have been playing a lot of music recently that dances
around in the lute's stratosphere- Melchior Neusidler, Mudarra, Milan's
advanced fantasias, etc. The plain wooden frets I have now- probably
Maple, maybe Boxwood; sound pretty terrible compared to the gut frets. I
am thinking Ebony, some other dense tropical hardwood, bone, or even
some modern synthetic- but only if aesthetically acceptable & sonically
superior. If anyone knows of some magic non-metallic body fret material
I would really like to know.
Part of the problem is the buzzing, unclean sound that results from a
squared off fret- an inevitable result of having to shave them down for
proper clearance after gluing down. Ideally, they should be crowned- or
at least rounded edges for best tone. Tough, fussy job to do even before
installation for the non-luthier DIY amateur.
Thanks all for any enlightenment on this bit of lute pain.
Dan
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