True, but of course they should have bent the pegbox ninety degrees in the other direction and made it even longer. Then you could hang a little weight on the end of the pegbox and it would kick the lower rim of the lute in towards you, instead of flipping it out.Would have saved generations of lute players from resorting to straps, bits of string, suede pads, edges of table tops and pinky fingers pressing on the top in order to hold the damn things.
David Cameron >I have a theory about the bent peg box that of course becomes moot with the >advent of the Swan neck etc. The Lute is a very lightly constructed >instrument, with the neck bent back the overall balance becomes more easily >managed while playing. The neck assembly is after all the heaviest portion >of the instrument. >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Dr. Marion Ceruti" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Howard Posner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Cc: "Lute List" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> >Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 5:53 PM >Subject: Re: Bent peg box > > >> Dear Howard, >> >> Please see remarks below. >> >> Best regards, >> Marion >> >> Dr. Marion Ceruti wrote: >> >> > Actually, bending a line, cord, rope, or string around corners >> > produces a great deal of force in the form of friction, which always >> > opposes motion. It is friction that keeps our pegs from rotating >> > when set in a certain position (in theory). >> >> Indeed. The most noticeable effect of this is that when the pegbox is >bent >> back, the strings will stay in place on the nut without deep grooves (and >> can be respaced at the nut with minimal alteration to the nut. >> >> ++Yes, I agree. This is caused by the increased tension on the nut. >> >> > If you increase the angle on the pegbox from zero >> > to 90, which is the maximum, you will increase the friction on the nut >> > according to the sine of the angle. This is why you will not see a >> > pegbox set at an angle greater than 90 degrees. The function may >> > be more complicated than a simple sine function, but this is the main >> > effect. >> >> Perhaps, but there's a far simpler limit on the acuteness of the angle: >> there has to be room for the left hand. >> >> +++Yes, I thought of that aspect after I sent the email. Even if you >> were to have a box bent back further than 90 degrees to the point >> where it were situated almost parallel to the neck in the opposite >direction, >> you could still reach around under it with your left hand to grab the neck >> but it would be annoying to have to play that way. In summary, there are >> multiple reasons for not going past 90 degrees. >> >> Howard Posmer >> >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> >> >> > > > >
