Here's something I've been wondering for years. Haven't gut strings always been made, even up until and after ww2 when nylon was first used? Isn't it a continuous tradition going back to ancient times? Is there a gap in our knowledge of how the strings were once made? Harps for instance have always used gut strings.
Sterling Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: Mimmo - Aquila Corde Armoniche <mperu...@aquilacorde.com> Date: 1/20/18 1:54 AM (GMT-07:00) To: Lute List <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Subject: [LUTE] Re: String tech (Well. Sorry for the long post but I think than many can be interested ) Many thinks that the 1st lute strings of the past were better: the only source I know that testifies that is Baron (1727). He wrote that there are instances were a roman 1st last till 4 weeks. Well, many of the surviving lutes(5 course guitars (in mean those not modified whose the original pitch standard can be supposed. They are: the 13 course german baroque lutes, 5 course french guitars, venetian lutes of 56-58 cms scale: 'mezzo punto' venetian pitch) has their working index ranging from 225 to 235 Hz/mt. Considering that on the graphic stress/strain, a thin gut string stop to stretch around 2-3 semitone before the breakage (Daniello Bartoli 1678: 'a string breaks when it cannot stretch furthermore'), I come to the conlusion that the lute/guitar 1st strings of the past had the same breaking point of those made today, i.e. 34-39 Kg/mm2. Instead, their lifetime was probably longer. Well guys, generally speaking, I agree to what Ed wrote. However I would like to point out that, a few years ago, I was very luky to obtain by chance a few gut strings .38-.46 mm gauge (beef) whose breaking index was of 310 Hz mt (!) and the lifetime around 2 months (Lynda Sayce, Caludia Caffagni feedbacks): no vernish, glue or superficial coatings were employed: they were just rectified by uncenterless machine and then oliled. This is what happend to me. I am pretty sure that potentially we stringmakers can reach a similar goal even with lamb gut. Unfortunately I was not ables to do the job again: the raw gut ribbons must have some critical features that are not commonly available today. In fact I was not ables to have that kind of gut again. That's pity. I remember that I have done a short article on the UK lute society. I have another thing to say: A. Kirker (rome 1650) wrote that the lute 1st strings were made from 1 unsplit lamb gut. Well, I was always skeptical on this subject (Kirker was not a stringmaker). Well, a few months ago I was ables to make a 1st string starting from a single thin mongolian lamb gut and it was an amazing experience: I polished the string in gentle way by hand; the final gauge was .40, the string was even on its whole length; the breaking point was around 35 Kg/mm2. In practice it breaks to A note on my lute of 61 cms. The sound was so beautiful. I had no time to verify the lifetime. Again: i am fightring to have more of that gut buti t is not easy; the diameter of ther gut do not meet the necessity for sausages so for the mongolian workers IT IS A WASTE. Crazy. In conclusion: there is space for all the stringmakers to done the job: researches and tests. Go ahead guys. Mimmo -----Messaggio originale----- Da: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] Per conto di Leonard Williams Inviato: venerdì 19 gennaio 2018 23:25 A: Lute List <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Oggetto: [LUTE] Re: String tech I play an 8-course, 59 cm lute, nominally in G (A c. 430), with 0.42 mm treble gut from Gamut. The strings may last a while, but fraying and the resulting compromised tone can occur early on. In some cases I can turn the (unshortened) string around and avoid bad patches near the nut or plucking zone. I would, nevertheless, prefer to change strings less often, but I love the sound of gut! Thanks, Leonard > On Jan 19, 2018, at 4:30 PM, Edward Martin <edvihuel...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hello Leonard and others, > > This is a topic of great interest to me, as I have played mostly gut strings for 30 + years. There is nothing as beautiful as the sound of a gut strung lute tuned well. Some have tried oils, resins, even crazy glue with mixed effectiveness of making trebles last long. > > Of the few who responded, what they did not say is what pitch and string length they are using. In my experience that is the utmost important factor. > > If you want a g treble at aD0, you cannot exceed 59 cm in length. If you do, you can only expect short strong life. It does not help to use a smaller diameter treble, as lowering the tension does not help either. If you want a baroque lute treble of f a = 415, if you exceed 68 cm, you will experience failure and short string life. We certainly can use any synthetic string, nylon, carbon, nylgut, etc., but the properties of gut are that we must stay in the formula or we have treble string short life. Some argue that we "should" be able to string gut trebles at higher pitches than what gut is capable of, but experience has shown otherwise. Although we can get a synthetic treble at g = 440 at let's say 63 cm, we cannot with gut and that lute for instance should be at f, not g. > > My 67 cm. 11-course baroque lute is at f 415 at 67.5 , and a usual treble lasts me 3 months. Once, I had one that lasted 10 months with heavy playing!! On my 70.5 cm baroque lute, it only lasts a day or so unless I lower the pitch to e. Then if I do that, it lasts as long as the other lute. > > So, if you have a 63 cm lute and insist on a gut treble, the pitch should be f, not g at 440. Staying within the upper limits is the only way to use a gut treble. Some people record in gut in that configuration, but they can stop and change trebles as they fail! > > Another factor is what kind of gut. Gamut now has beef gut trebles and they seem much stronger than sheep gut; some say beef is not as sweet in sound, but I cannot tell the difference in appearance, sound, playability, or texture. For me, beef is my personal choice. > > Ed > > Sent from my iPhone > >> On Jan 19, 2018, at 11:45 AM, Leonard Williams <arc...@verizon.net> wrote: >> >> Has anyone come up with a technique to increase the life of gut trebles? (besides switching to synthetics!) I get stray fibers very shortly after installing oneâstill playable but the tone and intonation suffer. >> >> Thanks! >> Leonard Williams >> >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > >
