Hi Ralf, I think I did not correctly express the issue I am trying to understand.
The stats on the string are: Pitch at 392, length 0.685, Tension is 28newtons,Diameter is 2.03mm silver gimped Larson string. The diameter is his "equivalent" ungimped diameter as opposed to the actual, physical diameter. I am very happy with this string and how it plays. My question is with regard to tuning it. When I am pitch I find that very little change in turning the peg causes a large change in the pitch. I have a number of instruments (some gut and some nylgut). I do not notice this on my Theorbo or 10 course lute (nor any of the others but they are all fewer courses). Is this normal? Is there anything that I can due to affect the sensitivity to pitch of the string when tuning it? Is it an indication of a string that is too high or too low a tension? My mathematical analysis of the formula for pitch implies that increasing the tension will result in a little less variation in pitch due to the change in tension when tuning but it seems really small. I appreciate all of the other comments and suggestions. Since this is completely independent of the strings response when I fret it I am not sure I understand the comments on twisting the string to reduce it stiffness. I do not find the string particularly stiff. That is one of the nice advantages of Dan Larson's silver gimped strings - they are actually smaller diameter than stated due to the extra mass of the silver. Anyway, any additional thoughts welcome. Regards David -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of R. Mattes Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 5:57 AM To: alexander; David Smith Cc: Lute List Subject: [LUTE] Re: Question on String Tension On Wed, 18 Dec 2013 05:11:40 -0500, alexander wrote > > there is a possibility of improving your situation. First you have to > make sure you know which way the string is twisted (clockwise or > counter). A strong magnifying glass might be of help. Next you need to > get one end of the string free, either the bridge end or the peg end. > Firmly holding the string, give it one or two turns in the direction > of the twist. Twist as much as possible without a distortion to the > shape of the string. Do not let the string to bulk on itself. Fix the > end of the string back where it belongs and raise the pitch. Of course > make sure the string does not untwist, and keep it somewhat taut while > holding. > > This simple technique might be enough to increase the string's > elasticity and make it more agreeable to finger pressure. There is no > difficulty to this, just some amount of common sense, and never turn > against the string's twist, as if the string is not glued well > together, it could be damaged. You could practice on a piece of fret > gut, to get a feel to it. Some strings can take quite a bit of twist > and actually be improved by this. Hello Alexander, sorry, but I want to ask: did you ever try this out yourself and did it really work? Even if you really manage to fix the string after twisting so that it doesn't immediatly untwist twisting in such a way would cause the mass of the string to be unevenly distributed over it's length (because the string will be mostly twisted in the middle - take a rubberband, twist it and watch where the twisting happens ;-) And that will create a false string. Gut strings are twisted during assembly, while they are wet, not afterwards, when dried. @david: what exactly do you mean when you write "sensitve"? Does the string change pitch when you use more than minimal force to finger it? Yes, that's typical for low tension strings (as well as for metal strings ...) You need to spend a substantial amount of time pracising playing at low tension. "Dificult to get in tune" - hmm, low tension should result in easier tuning because you need more turning of the peg to get the same amount of pitch change compared to a high-tension string. As a matter of fact, shortly before the breaking point of a string, tiny changes at the peg will result in dramatic pitch changes - that's actually how you now that you are approaching the breaking point (without breaking the string). Cheers, Ralf Mattes -- R. Mattes - [email protected] To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
