Wow! Somehow, I feel a lot better now! Tom Tom Draughon Heartistry Music http://www.heartistry.com Sent from my iPhone 715-682-9362
> On Feb 9, 2014, at 9:44 PM, Christopher Wilke <[email protected]> wrote: > > I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate changing frets with an abhorrence that defies > all reason. My wife knows to get out of the house as fast as possible when > she sees me getting out a new set of frets, because she's learned that a few > moments later a flurry of frothy-mouthed, red-faced, apoplectic cursing will > ensue. I've just never been able to get the hang of fretting. After years of > putting frets on multiple instruments, I still usually need to put on every > fret two or more times. As I repeatedly clip off unsatisfactory attempts and > try again, I watch my supply of available fret gut slowly dwindling and begin > to feel a little like James Bond in that scene in Goldfinger when the laser > beam is inching up slowly between his legs. ("Do you expect me to settle for > buzzing notes!?" I ask Gutfinger defiantly. "No, Mr Wilke," responds > Gutfinger with a surplus of glee, "I expect you to cancel your concerts > because you won't be able to practice properly for weeks > without that missing 6th fret gauge you ineptly used up due to your utter > incompetence in the Most Skillful Art of Frettery!!!" Wow. That was > dramatic.) In the I end content myself with frets that bow, sag and wiggle > under my fingers like earthworms. I shim even the new ones, but still end up > buzzing like a bee and dealing with "surprise temperaments." Yes, I know. I'm > pathetic. > > Chris > > > > > > Dr. Christopher Wilke D.M.A. > Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer > www.christopherwilke.com > > -------------------------------------------- > On Sun, 2/9/14, Dan Winheld <[email protected]> wrote: > > Subject: [LUTE] Re: How to cut fret shims. > To: "alexander" <[email protected]>, "Herbert Ward" > <[email protected]> > Cc: [email protected] > Date: Sunday, February 9, 2014, 6:35 PM > > "I could whittle with a utility > knife, but > that would be wasteful and time consuming." > > "I find that a surgical saw, something like what one can > find even on > Amazon (Satterlee Bone Saw 13") is an ideal tool. A very > thin blade with sharp teeth. Just make sure you do not cut > yourself in the process... It is actually ideal for many > uses with wood, bone and plastics." > > Guys, > > Why would either of you go to all that bother, rather than > merely replacing the fret? Of course, an emergency situation > (5 minutes before show time, during rehearsal, or stuck out > somewhere beyond easy reach of the postal service & no > spare gut) is another story. > > I could remove & replace 10 gut frets in the time it > would take you to whittle a single proper shim out of a "1/2 > inch by 1/2 inch by 10 inches ( 1cm x 1cm x 20cm)" piece of > anything. That is, single frets. The more traditional > doubles (still routinely used by the viol players) would > take a little more time. > > Fret changing is not hard at all, once you've done a few and > get into the rhythm of it. Soon you will be getting them so > tight that you will have to back off to keep from breaking > the thinner ones, and even that big, bad 1st fret will only > take the slightest more aggression to make as tight as > necessary. Thomas Mace has a pretty good tutorial on frets, > as I remember. So does Dan Larson on his website, and no > doubt there are others easily available. Catch me at the > right time I'll do it for you, and show you how. A cigarette > lighter, fingernail clippers, and maybe (strictly optional) > a small pliers for the 1st fret. > > The business with the surgical saw is what I paid a > professional luthier to do recently when I had bone body > frets put on my lute- frets 10 & up. He messed up my 9th > & 8th frets leveling the new bone frets, and it took me > 3 minutes or less to replace them practically under his nose > in the shop. > > Happy fretting! (It almost gets fun) > > Dan > > > > > > >> I could whittle with a utility knife, butthat would be > wasteful and time consuming. > > alexander r. > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > >
