Granted I'm not a luthier but the weight of the lute being pulled from the side - even from the furthermost pegs - is not more than the weight of the lute. A smaller gluing surface of bridge-to-belly withstands the many pounds of strings trying to pull the bridge off. Amazing stuff, hide glue. The pegbox has the added tension of all the strings helping to adhere the pegbox to the neck, too. In my years of strappy playing and various lutes I have yet to lose confidence in that join.
Newbies, pegs and pegboxes are sometimes a difficult combo to watch - especially if they aren't your student or you're not in a position to put in your oar. If they aren't holding the pegbox in the other hand than the one holding the peg then I get nervous. Once one gets the hang of it and the pegs move freely enough then one-handed tuning should be ok. What I often see that looks cringeworthy is holding the lute out front - its belly facing your belly - one hand on the neck and the other jamming the peg in. That's the twist that will break it, imho. Maybe that's what United Airlines is doing wrong. On the other hand, watching a good player tune is in itself fascinating. I don't need to hear those old wives' tales of 'more time spent on tuning than playing' or the "Too-Ning" joke. A good player does it quickly and accurately - however often or necessary - and gives it the least distractory attention possible. Sean On Jul 23, 2015, at 12:46 PM, Ron Andrico wrote: I agree with Chris that tying a strap to the pegbox is not an ideal choice. It's not as though you're spanking the plank a la some of our Telecaster brethren, but I've always felt a bit uneasy about undoing that glue joint. I once witnessed one of my students wrench his pegbox clean off while in the midst of learning the zen of tuning. Luthiers could probably wade into the discussion but my guess is that it would take very little force to break that glue joint. Especially if (unlike the characters in the videos) you play a proper lute with a reasonably robust string length. RA > Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2015 15:07:12 -0400 > To: spiffys84...@yahoo.com > CC: csbarker...@att.net; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > From: mokot...@gmail.com > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Lute Strap > > I was wondering same. > > > >> On Jul 23, 2015, at 3:02 PM, Sterling Price <spiffys84...@yahoo.com> wrote: >> >> Just curious-- has anyone ever had or heard of a pegbox failing because of a strap? It should be fine if one ties the strap as close as possible to the joint. >> Sterling >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >>> On Jul 23, 2015, at 10:23 AM, Chris Barker <csbarker...@att.net> wrote: >>> >>> I have noticed one recurring mistake that lutenists are making with straps. >>> I'm no bigtime performer, just an amateur for fifty years, but I have built >>> a number of Lutes and Vihuelas, and I see a problem some lutenists are >>> making with their straps. Attaching a strap to a button that is pinned >>> through the end of the lute and into the tail block is just fine. Attaching >>> a strap to the pegbox is NOT. The pegbox is already under a great deal of >>> tension from the strings. The added tension from a strap, no matter how >>> slight, is just multiplying the chances for a difficulty to occur. It is >>> always advisable to mount a button through the center stave and into the >>> neck block less than an inch from the neck/body joint. On Vihuelas and >>> Baroque and Renaissance Guitars the button should be pinned through the neck >>> block centered and less than an inch from the heel, or into the heel itself >>> if it is large enough. I have done this, and it works. Others have been >>> happy with it as well. >>> >>> Chris >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf >>> Of Charles Mokotoff >>> Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2015 6:44 AM >>> To: LuteNet list <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> >>> Subject: [LUTE] Re: Lute Strap >>> >>> Thanks to everyone for the replies. What is clear from my looking the >>> URLs over is that: >>> 1. No one in the USA is selling these >>> 2. They are a bit expensive for what you get >>> However, I understand that some of these are quite beautiful and much >>> nicer than anything I could probably cobble together. >>> More importantly, I played around with my version some more and noticed >>> that, yes, the lute is sitting stable on the RIGHT thigh, rather than >>> in between the thighs with a footstool, (essentially I hold the >>> instrument as if it were a classical guitar). This used to work in my >>> younger years, not so much now. But, playing thumb out and using the >>> strap, it still is uncomfortable and tends to put my hand over the rose >>> or even closer to the neck. Perhaps just needs some time to adjust? >>> Nigel North's strap configuration looks a bit different than what Paul >>> uses: >>> [1]https://youtu.be/c7wLjIF1N5o >>> Thanks, again. >>> >>> On Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 4:07 PM, Charles Mokotoff >>> <[2]mokot...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> Does anyone know where I could get this strap that Paul O'Dette >>> is >>> referring to in this interview? >>> [1][3]https://youtu.be/tQ5vltWA0IY?t=15m27s >>> I have tried jury-rigging something similar but it isn't working >>> all >>> that well for me. My lute looks about the same size as the >>> instrument >>> Paul is holding. >>> Thanks for any words of wisdom on this, I've been wanting to sit >>> differently for some time. >>> -- >>> References >>> 1. [4]https://youtu.be/tQ5vltWA0IY?t=15m27s >>> To get on or off this list see list information at >>> [5]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >>> >>> -- >>> >>> References >>> >>> 1. https://youtu.be/c7wLjIF1N5o >>> 2. mailto:mokot...@gmail.com >>> 3. https://youtu.be/tQ5vltWA0IY?t=15m27s >>> 4. https://youtu.be/tQ5vltWA0IY?t=15m27s >>> 5. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >>> >>> > > --
