Thank you!
This is very helpful, especially coming from you! I recently bought "The
Lute in Europe 2" and I'm very awestruck by the book :)
So I'm going to use my good old fishing wire (1150 kg/m³). What tension
would you recommend?
Am 30.11.2017 um 21:21 schrieb Joachim Lüdtke:
Gut – definitely – was the material of the original strings. Even with such a
thick soundboard, don't put on metal strings. The whole structure of both
guitars as galutes/lutars or whatchamacallits from about that time is not fit
to withstand the pressure put on it by metals strings for long.
Don't judge the soundboard thickness by what you can measure at the rose: these
were (most?) often not cut into the soundboard, but set in and were sawn out of
a material considerably thicker than the soundboard wood itself, whicht might
be about 3 mm. If you really want to try out metal strings (your own risk,
Tristan!), use a set of silk-and-steel strings as recommended for old American
parlor guitars.
Good luck!
Joachim
P.S.: you will find metal strings with old German guitars and instrument like
your six-string lute occasionally. They were introduced in years when gut
became rare, and nylon strings were not yet available (nylon strings were
provided as a replacement material first and only later became a 'standard' for
'classical' guitars). The metal strings have ruined a lot of instruments ...
Lektorat & Korrektorat
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-----Original-Nachricht-----
Betreff: [LUTE] Stringing Question (German Lute)
Datum: 2017-11-30T19:58:23+0100
Von: "Tristan von Neumann" <tristanvonneum...@gmx.de>
An: "lutelist Net" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Hi there,
I'm currently repairing my old German Lute (6x1, 62cm), previously
decorative only. Some ribs have come apart. I managed one connection
already.
I noticed that it has very thin ribs (about 1-1.5mm), however the
soundboard is quite thick judging at the rose (about 4-5mm).
There is one leftover string attached on the 4th course, it seems
contemporary and is wound metal.
The lute has a one piece carved pegbox with ornamented back plate and
flowerhead, and mechanical pegs. The fingerboard has metal frets with
arches in between. The strings are attached with wooden pins into holes
in the bridge.
It seems about 100 years old. No maker's plate is visible inside the bowl.
After having it in ok condition I plan to string it -- what would you
suggest? Metal or nylon (in the latter case I'll use my fishing line)?
Is there a way to tell if it was metal or gut strung?
Personally I would prefer metal for more cittern-like sound, unless
anyone advises strongly against it.
Cheers
Tristan
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