[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-29 Thread John Mardinly
@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes Well, Roman, I can see why you upset a few people. I think mentioning lute makers or players by name, whether what you say about them is positive or negative, is just a bad idea - and arguably downright rude

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-16 Thread r.turov...@gmail.com
I wrote ADD, not change. As I can tell from this sondage as well as the on FB: the lute-public opinion overwhelmingly tilts against narrow bridges. RT On 10/15/2014 9:19 PM, howard posner wrote: I asked the point of asking for ideas if you’ve already decided you’re not going to change the

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-16 Thread howard posner
On Oct 16, 2014, at 7:32 AM, r.turov...@gmail.com wrote: I wrote ADD, not change. I guess that means you can’t take the apostrophe out of “it’s,” but you can add “not everyone shares my view about how wide bridge spacing should be.” So we’re agreed, and your path is clear. No need to thank

[BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Ed Durbrow
Very well written. Mace would be proud of you. On Oct 16, 2014, at 12:30 AM, r.turov...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Collective Wisdom, Recently I had a few unpleasant conversations with some lute sellers, whose sales were thwarted by the advice given by me. Therefore I've decided to update and

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Dan Winheld
Roman- The article as it is now looks good to me. The only possible legitimate sale thwartation I can conceive of would be that of a good instrument by a builder that is not a model of what your article deems to be his best style- say an unusually fine vihuela or 6-course from a luthier more

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Martin Shepherd
Well, Roman, I can see why you upset a few people. I think mentioning lute makers or players by name, whether what you say about them is positive or negative, is just a bad idea - and arguably downright rude. If your comment is positive, someone reading it might wonder if you have an axe

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Dan Winheld
The price of secondhand lutes is more difficult. A good lute gets better with age, and perhaps the price should reflect that... Martin, I suspect that you and I have been experiencing quite different used/old lutes. Of course, you do specify good lute; but as an active lute teacher here in

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Martin Shepherd
Dan, as you say, I specified good lutes. Age will clearly not help anything which was never any good in the first place. When we have weeded out the lutes which are simply never going to be any good, that leaves a large number (perhaps the majority) where some TLC from someone who knows what

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Dan Winheld
Oh, I do that too. And the local dude who gets these repair referrals knows who he is... However, the little jobs like nut spacing, fret replacement, even some bridge hole tweaking, and ESPECIALLY stringing/re-stringing I do myself- student's lutes go up on the padded dining room table, off

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread r.turov...@gmail.com
Actually the brouhaha was mainly about the bridge width, even before I could get to the distorted swanneck curve.. I will read your advice, and incorporate whatever I can, with your indulgence. RT On 10/15/2014 2:14 PM, Martin Shepherd wrote: Well, Roman, I can see why you upset a few people.

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Matthew Daillie
Hi Roman, Well, we've had this discussion before but I really can't agree on your minimum width for a 13-course lute. In paragraph 3 you say ' Make sure the bridge is not too narrow, ideally in the vicinity of 155mm between the 1st and the 13th course. If it measures only 145mm - stay away.

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread howard posner
On Oct 15, 2014, at 12:39 PM, r.turov...@gmail.com wrote: Actually the brouhaha was mainly about the bridge width, even before I could get to the distorted swanneck curve.. Previous discussions indicate that there’s a lot of disagreement with your view of bridge spacing; you might want to

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread r.turov...@gmail.com
No way. I'm channeling Pat's idea/ls. RT On 10/15/2014 3:51 PM, howard posner wrote: On Oct 15, 2014, at 12:39 PM, r.turov...@gmail.com wrote: Actually the brouhaha was mainly about the bridge width, even before I could get to the distorted swanneck curve.. Previous discussions indicate

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread r.turov...@gmail.com
I still distinctly remember the misery that Guy Marchand went through on a 145mm axe. The situation comes up at fairly regular intervals, so I'll stand by what I wrote. The pegbox distortion viz bridge situation was discussed with 2 reputable luthiers. RT On 10/15/2014 3:45

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Dan Winheld
Damn, I would have put money on a scenario involving a furious Papazian owner losing a $5,000 sale to a buyer that your article would have warned off. (Those things will take your left hand off at the wrist faster than a Pirhana in the bathtub if you attempt a barre chord. I speak from

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread r.turov...@gmail.com
That is probably why it survived. No one could play it. RT On 10/15/2014 4:41 PM, Dan Winheld wrote: Damn, I would have put money on a scenario involving a furious Papazian owner losing a $5,000 sale to a buyer that your article would have warned off. (Those things will take your left hand

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread howard posner
OK, but if you’re catching flak about your remarks on bridge spacing, and you know you won’t change those remarks even to say that not everyone agrees with you about it, why are you asking for ideas? On Oct 15, 2014, at 12:58 PM, r.turov...@gmail.com wrote: No way. I'm channeling Pat's

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread r.turov...@gmail.com
There are statistics [1]https://www.mail-archive.com/lute@cs.dartmouth.edu/msg19722.html which offer 2 possibilities - narrow ones were played with nails and/or unplayed at all. Back in the 50s and 60s when Bream was THE lutenist, the strings were almost parallel, as suited a

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Charles Mokotoff
That's funny! As probably the only extant Papazian lute owner/player in the world today (possible?) I beg to differ. It isn't that hard to play, my only complaint is it was hard to find strings, and with a 64cm string length, the tension is awfully high on the trebles, making subtle

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Matthew Daillie
Hear, hear! On Oct 15, 2014, at 22:50, howard posner howardpos...@ca.rr.com wrote: OK, but if you’re catching flak about your remarks on bridge spacing, and you know you won’t change those remarks even to say that not everyone agrees with you about it, why are you asking for ideas?

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread r . turovsky
Huh? All the players I respect tend to have wider bridges, and Pat's own Jauck-Rutherford was even 157 mm. My 155 was copied from Barto's. Sent from my iPhone On Oct 15, 2014, at 5:37 PM, Matthew Daillie dail...@club-internet.fr wrote: Hear, hear! On Oct 15, 2014, at 22:50, howard

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Dan Winheld
Hey! Not bad at all; very good sound (given computer recording circumstances) good playing, ornaments too. I would suggest backing off the tempo a couple clicks, sounds a little bit rushed (can't make the old lute teacher keep his mouth shut, sorry!) You must have a left hand like a vise. I

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread Geoff Gaherty
On 2014-10-15, 6:36 PM, Dan Winheld wrote: I visited Manouk Papazian in his New York shop all those years ago (1965 or 66), the instruments weren't that bad except that I couldn't begin to fret them- ended up with a much more playable 9 course from David Rubio- but still it was a bone saddle,

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes - bridge spacing

2014-10-15 Thread Ed Durbrow
If one plays several instruments, having them similar might be a consideration for bridge spacing. Bream had his lute the same scale as his guitar, I believe. My Ren lute is my main instrument. I have no problem with my right hand when playing my archlute because the spacing is not that

[LUTE] Re: beginners, and practicalities of buying lutes

2014-10-15 Thread howard posner
I asked the point of asking for ideas if you’ve already decided you’re not going to change the thing you’re asking ideas about, even to acknowledge that some players disagree with you. On Oct 15, 2014, at 2:46 PM, r.turov...@gmail.com wrote: Huh? All the players I respect tend to have wider