On 18.01.2007 David W. Fenton wrote:
Yes, indeed, and not uniformly along the string length. When a viol's
strings get to the point that you have to be moving the higher frets
down the fingerboard to play in tune, you know it's time to replace
your strings. And, of course, the wrapped strings change a rate
different from the unwrapped, and the thicker gut strings change at a
rate different from the thin ones. The maximal point of conflict on
the gamba is between the two middle strings, C and E, where the C is
the thinnest of the wrapped strings and the E is the thickest of the
unwrapped. Things very quickly become problematic there.
And replacing all your strings on a viol is 50% more expensive than
for a violin! :)
Sure, but they last longer. An E string only lasts a few days, less in
summer.
But I have a trick for the tuning problems with older strings. If your
strings get older, put a little piece of match (I use a piece of an old
string) under them right at the nut, to make the open string length
shorter. You can compensate for quite a lot using this method. You can
even adjust as the stzring gets worseEspecially with the expensive D
catline string (please don't start a discussion on whether they are
historical or not, I know about these problems) I can use a lot longer
without going mad on intonation problems, even when playing
unaccompanied Bach.
Johannes
--
http://www.musikmanufaktur.com
http://www.camerata-berolinensis.de
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