-----Original Message----- From: Howard Posner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Apr 4, 2005 5:12 PM To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: Strap Buttons
Dr. Marion Ceruti wrote: > So far, I have not heard of a strap button pulling out of a lute. It happens all the time, since they're typically put in like tuning pegs, held by friction. This has nothing to do with the strength of the instrument, of course. ++Maybe this is one reason why some people sit on the other end of the strap or silk, attaching the strap to the peg end only. I don't use a strap on a lute so I have not bothered to find out what happens when you pull on the strap button. (Famous last words: What does this button do?) In case anyone reading this is not aware of it, this was a joke. > I see no disadvantage with the very slight added weight > My 11-string guitar has 11 metal tuning machines and I have > no trouble holding it for long periods of time. If the rest of your 11-string guitar were as light as a lute, you might have a problem with balance. ++See a later posting about balancing the weight by a new design in which half of the tuners are at one end and the other half are at the opposite end. It depends on what kind of problem you want. All tuning systems have their advantages and their disadvantages. I would rather have the tuning machines and find another way to solve the problem with weight distribution than to spend an inordinate amount of time tuning. The tuning challenge is worse for short string lengths than with the longer strings for obvious physical reasons. > As for bowed strings, I don't know about your violins, > but mine have small machine tuners at the loop end of > the strings. Fine tuners are common on student violins. ++I have two violins, both with fine tuners. One of them is not worth a huge amount of money and I suppose you could call it a student violin. The second one is a fine concert instrument made in 1836. I would not go out and buy one like this and would not have it except that it has been in my family for generations. I have received offers to buy it from violinists who have not even seen it. It is not exactly what you would give a student to play. The bow alone is worth more than some lutes. H To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
