Ed, as you know I have gone through phases of experimentation with
gut on my barqoue lutes. Even though we both live in cold climes, I
have not been successful keeping gut easily in tune, at least not on
my bass rider. With my limited time to practice, it is simply not
possible to spend a good chunk of time tuning. Also, and I know this
is sacrilege, I don't find the sound difference to be worth it to me.
I think that gut requires a different right hand technique to sound
at it's best and too often I have heard gut played poorly with I
suppose the implicit message being "well it's on gut, so it must
sound great and be authentic". OTOH, I'm not criticizing anyone who
spends the time and effort to make a fully gut strung instrument
sound great and I've heard that many times too (eg. Earl Christy at
LSA, the recent luteduo videos and of course YOU Ed).
I'm not a recording or performance artist and even with the
occasional amateur concert or youtube video I'm pretty much playing
for my own enjoyment, so this is what has worked for me so far.
Having said that, I am interested in new developments in gut
technology and always willing to try something new, once it has been
vetted by the gut experts on the cutting edge. What has peaked my
interest again is this swan neck discussion. I love the volume and
balance of the Jauch but don't want to devote my RH thumb to damping
every bass I strike. That's why the idea of a Jauch with long thick
gut basses and "best current technology" trebles is appealing. For
crying out loud, I'm down to only 4 instruments at the moment!
Danny
www.dshoskes.com
www.youtube.com/kidneykutter
On Dec 2, 2007, at 9:41 AM, Edward Martin wrote:
Why not stringing it all in gut?
ed
At 08:36 AM 12/2/2007 -0500, Daniel Shoskes wrote:
That is what I find interesting though. Long gut strings seem to be
much more stable in terms of keeping in tune (and getting them
there). I like the idea of long guts in the basses of a Jauch and
then nylgut and KF for the fingerboard strings.
Edward Martin
2817 East 2nd Street
Duluth, Minnesota 55812
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
voice: (218) 728-1202
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