Dear Craig, Yes, I have a great deal of experience with the gimped string. Or, at least with the gimped string that Dan Larson makes.
I like them very much, as for the 7th course & lower, they have the same principles as loaded gut, in that with the wire, it makes for a smaller diameter string for a given length to pitch to Kg. of tension. What I live about Dan's gimped string is that in construction, it is a Pistoy, that is a flexible string, with 3 strands, triple twisted. He twists into this string a piece of flexible wire, and therefore, the wire is homogeneously bonded with the gut, so it will not wear out or get "buzzy". I do not like them for 5th courses, because they are a stiffer string due to the wire, and therefore, intonation is sometimes a problem. But, as compared to loaded strings, they are true in vibrations, and therefore, a wonderful sound of high quality. For a 5th string, I do not recommend wound.... they were probably never used. They are way too bright, and they wear poorly, especially in the 2nd fret position. For the best, get a Pistoy. This is for either renaissance or baroque lute. They are fantastic, period. Or for a substitution, you can try either nylgut 5th or the Savarez KFG. The smooth strings sound so much better than wound ones, and they last a long time. ed At 07:05 AM 4/14/2005 -0700, Craig Allen wrote: >Ed wrote: > > > >Wound 6th courses do not last as long as gut strings, believe me. I think > >it is because in a wound string, you have 2 moving parts.... the metal > >winding, and then the floss core. They are actually moving parts, where in > >a gut string, the gut fibers are homogeneously bound. Gut basses last > >(seemingly) forever. > >Have you had any experience with the gimped string? If I recall this is a >gut string with a single wire wrapped in a longish spiral. I have the same >problem Michael does with the wound strings, particularly on the fifth >course, wearing out right around the third fret. > >As a side note, has anyone experimented with making a gimped nylon, nylgut >or carbon fiber bass string? > >Regards, >Craig > > >___________________________________________________________ >$0 Web Hosting with up to 200MB web space, 1000 MB Transfer >10 Personalized POP and Web E-mail Accounts, and much more. >Signup at www.doteasy.com > > > >To get on or off this list see list information at >http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (218) 728-1202
