Dana- this seems like excellent advice & cautions in regard to nylon frets. In line with that, I would also advise noting what the neck and fingerboard are made of- ebony fingerboard with ebony veneered neck would seem to be best; in any case the hardest, toughest woods possible would be in order. Anything else, especially if the lute is of some value, could be counter productive so why not go with the easier, safer, and in any case better sounding traditional alternative?
That said, I would also advise the thinnest frets that you could get away with. Dowland's advice seems appropriate here; he starts with 4th course for the first two frets (.85 - .90 mm), next two of 3rd course size, (.70-ish) 5th & 6th fret, 2nd course; and the rest trebles. Also single frets would be best; while the traditional doubles are rarely used by modern lutenists anyway, only gut doubles will "bed down" properly for cleanest sound. Attempting to get enough tension for tightness, and for the fret to lie flat near the fingerboard edges at the first fret position with 1.15 nylon would take two gorillas with vice grip pliers. And a titanium neck with carbon fingerboard. Dan >Nylon can be made to work, but it even more of a pain in the proverbial >than gut. It is stronger than most neck woods and will leave an >indentation; some like that, it marks where the fret goes. Others dislike >it for the same reason, get it wrong and you are stuck. The knots are >prickly, and burning them makes noxious smoke which you really shouldnt >inhale. > >Nylon is probably longer lasting than gut, but not forever, I have had >nylon frets break. > >I switched to gut a long time ago and far prefer it. > >The first fret is particularly challenging as you have so little room >above it to use in stretching the knot tighter; I always found pliers >necesary on the first fret; leave the ends long enough that you can grip >away from the knot, then wrap a length around the jaws, you dont want to >be squashing the nylon to get a grip anywhere near the knot. >-- >Dana Emery -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
