On 8/24/07 12:49 PM, "Anthony Hind" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Martyn > I just had a thought. If price is your main concern, for whatever > reason, you could look at Banjo strings. Martin Shepherd, I think, > told me he sometimes uses Purr'll Gut Strings for his top string. > Their prices look very cheap, but I don't know about the quality. > Perhaps Martyn used them on the top, because they were very strong, > or because he wants cheap relacements, for the string which breaks most. > http://gourdbanjo.com/GBhtml/gut.html I've been using Sierra Veiw's (gourdbanjo) purr'l gut for my trebles for a couple of years and can attest that they are cheap and good (good enough, at least). I order the 1.5 meter length at no additional cost and get two trebles from one string. Half a dozen of these gives me 12 trebles at less than $15 US. Caveat: the smallest diameter he has is 4.25 mm, a little heavy for some lutes. I've had them to pitch (g) at A=440, mensur=590 mm, but lately I've been tuning a little lower than that. Regards, Leonard Williams > Best regards > Anthony > > > > > Le 24 août 07 à 18:05, Martyn Hodgson a écrit : > >> >> Many thanks for this Anthony. >> >> My main motive for asking was the increasing cost of gut >> (especially fret gut oddly enough) and Universale's prices seemed >> very competitive - hence if their quality was OK then I'd order >> from them rather than MP or Sofracob or Kurschner or others. In >> your email I'm not wholly clear if the Venice strings which you >> mention as being v good are Aquila's or Universale's - grateful for >> clarification. >> >> Regarding numbers of guts in a string, you may also be aware of >> the view that the old trebles had a significantly higher tensile >> strength because they were made of a single well selected gut >> rather than two or three thinner guts twisted together which >> inevitably introduced an element of discontinuity within the >> string: I'm not aware that modern string makers have taken this >> challenge up yet. >> >> regards, >> >> MH >> >> >> >> Anthony Hind <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Dear Martyn >> I don't know whether they are similar to Aquila Venice which >> are a twine of two elements, and not a tress of three like Pistoys. >> This according to Mimmo Perfuffo results in a more flexible string; >> but I suppose flexibilty may not be everything. >> >> I found the Venice very good, particularly on the 4th course, where >> Pistoys can't work. >> According to MP it doesn't matter what material (ram, cow etc) that >> the gut comes from. He claims to have made blind tests to prove this. >> >> On the other hand today we no longer find gut made from whole gut, >> but strips. This might make a difference, perhaps. A friend of my >> daughter has begun to keep a couple of "vintage" rare breed sheep, >> and I notice how small and wild they look, more like miniature goats >> (even the female has horns). I wonder whether sheep up to the 17th >> century would not have been much smaller than today. I don't know >> whether that means the intestines would have been smaller though. It >> is just a thought. >> >> M.P. also tells me that he has now rediscovered much of the old >> technology in his ongoing research, and could produce some strings as >> strong as nylon; however, the process would be painstakingly long, >> and I suppose they would be very expensive. >> >> I know that Dan Larson made a gimped string with tungsten that was >> exceptionally true, and well liked by the lucky few who could try it. >> This may not be historic, but I suppose it was cost that meant the >> string remained in prototype form. >> >> I have the impression that if more lutists showed interest in gut >> strings, we would see some very interesting developments in this area. >> Regards >> Anthony >> >> Le 24 août 07 à 17:10, Martyn Hodgson a écrit : >> >>> >>> Has anybody experience of strings by this specialist Italian >>> company offering 'Highest quality ram's and ox's gut strings for >>> Renaissance, Baroque and Classical performance'? >>> >>> On their website they only show price lists for violin and gamba >>> family instruments but offer 'Special ox's gut strings', High twist >>> ram gut strings' Venice catlines' amongs others so I suppose culd >>> provide suitable strings for lutes/guitars. Prices look good >>> (especially fret gut). >>> >>> MH >>> >>> >>> >>> x's twist', 'Venice Catlines' so I suppose >>> >>> >>> --------------------------------- >>> For ideas on reducing your carbon footprint visit Yahoo! For Good >>> this month. >>> -- >>> >>> To get on or off this list see list information at >>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> >> >> >> >> --------------------------------- >> Yahoo! Answers - Get better answers from someone who knows. Tryit >> now. >> -- > > >
