Hello
I must differ on some points:
In my experience, nylon frets are more difficult to tie and tend not to lie
flat if not tied tight enough - but (and this is huge!IMHP) they never ever
ever loosen. I just rebought for use as a loaner a lute that I had sold over
ten years ago the nylon frets were old when I sold it. They're still on the
instrument and still tight. I had a Donald Warnock lute made in 1967 with
nylon frets. The original frets are still tight. NEVER EVER LOOSEN.
If you run the fret past a piece of sand paper a couple of times, nylon
becomes quite textured and holds quite well.
There are people who will tell you that gut frets sound better than nylon.
These people have better ears than I.
Most of my instruments have gut frets, but if I must retie one, the
replacement will be nylon for two reasons: 1) expense - it's far cheaper
than gut. And 2) I won't ever have to tie that fret again.
Best,
Joseph Mayes
On 4/28/08 2:46 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Dear All:
> One of my lutes had a flat fingerboard with edging that came to a rather
> sharp point, and I had trouble getting frets to lie flat, especially those
> made with larger-diameter gut. They did indeed exhibit some "daylight" at the
> edges. I had a luthier bevel the edges slightly, and now the frets all lie
> flat.
> I don't think nylon works nearly as well as gut for frets, for a veriety of
> reasons:
> 1) It stretches less once in place, and so stays tight longer;
> 2) It is a little "tacky" and stays in place better than the relatively
> slippery nylon;
> 3) It bends more readily than nylon, allowing it to lie flat more easily.
> Depending on the action of your lute, it also may help to graduate the
> diameters slightly, starting perhaps with 1 mm gut at the first fret and
> working down to 0.80 or 0.75 mm at the seventh fret. But if the action is a
> little high, you can use the same diameter throughout.
> Cheers and good luck,
> Jim
>
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Date: 2008/04/28 Mon AM 11:51:02 CDT
> To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
> Subject: [LUTE] Tying on frets
>
> Hello Lutenists,
> I need some help. Not with the fret knot itself or the like, but please bear
> with me:
> I stripped the fixed metal fret fingerboard from my lute & replaced it with a
> fretless fingerboard. I am not a luthier, just very careful. I did not bevel
> or fillet the edges of the fingerboard, at least not yet. I notice that the
> stress resulting from the nylon fret trying to make the sharp bend is lifting
> it up near the edge. That is, near the edge of the fingerboard there is a
> small gap or "daylight" under the fret. It is actually not all that small,
> big
> enough so that I can see that it will be a problem.
> I know this is not a lute building list but you can help me get playing again
> by looking at your lutes (assuming you are using tie on frets) and telling me
> if the edges are beveled or filleted, and if so, how much. And here is
> another
> question: if you lay a straight edge on your fingerboard, is it straight or
> crowned? I was careful to get mine really flat but now I wonder.
> Another related question I have is, nylon or gut for frets? I only have nylon
> right now. Is this stress effect peculiar to nylon? I would not think so
> since
> I notice that wrapped strings lift near the edge as well.
> Thank You All Very Much,
> -plh
>
>
>
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