All right, lute gurus. This question has been plaguing me since I started playing the lute about 2 years ago. The reason I always hesitated asking on this list is because of the length required to explain whats going on. I apologize in advance for the length. I have an 8c Ren. lute made by LK Brown. Nice lute. But my 6th course (g course) will NOT fret in tune. Only my 6th course. The octave always sounds to flat against the fundamental when tuned with an electronic tuner or against the chantarelle. Always. Please note that we are talking about maybe 3 or 4 cents out of tune here (which is PLENTY out of tune when talking about octaves), but technically nothing huge. My frets are fine and have been changed 3 times in two years. There is nothing wrong with the neck, and since the out of tune severity is IDENTICAL anywhere on the neck, it tells me it has nothing to do with string diameters either. Though currently it is strung in Nylgut type D for fundamental and plain for the octave (my favorite sound), I have tried everything from unwound gut to savarez overwounds to carbonfiber in every possible combination. None of the strings are false. Everything gives a near identical result, even with the extreme diameter differences of unwound gut. Again let me reiterate: when tuning with an electronic tuner, my 6th course octave always sounds flat. "Well, just tune it sharper to solve the problem," you say. "Electronic tuners aren't perfect." This is very true. But here's the kicker: the string it ISN'T flat, both according to my electronic tuner and other G notes around the lute. In other words, when I fret a note, say Bb (3rd fret) on the 6th course, it will give the distinct unpleasant warble of being a few cents out of tune and the octave sounds flat. But when I check it against say, the Bb on the first fret of the third course, OR the electronic tuner, it is CLEARLY NOT FLAT. When I make the string sharper to get rid of the warble, the string is (surprise) too sharp. And I have to get pretty darn sharp before it sounds too sharp. What the heck is going on here? While I don't have perfect pitch, I am darn close (one of the reasons I stopped playing guitar is my disgust with being locked into equal temperament), and I refuse to believe my ear is the problem for one string on one course on one lute. How can it both be flat and not flat at the same time? Remember, I'm not talking about temperaments or anything, I'm talking about the one course simply not fretting in tune. The ONLY thing I can possibly think of--and this seems to be a bit of a stretch--is some kind of issue with the overtones on my instrument. Maybe some kind of wolf? But why would it be the same problem on the first fret as the third? Or the fifth? Or the eighth? It makes no sense. A wolf is a problem in one area of an instrument, not the whole range of a string. The 'best' solution I can come up with (and how I've been playing for 2 years) is to split the difference: I tune my g fundamental slightly too flat, my octave slightly too sharp, the mean of the two pitches around where an in tune g should be. It's a decent solution, but there's still that unpleasant "warble" that sends up red flags in my ears that screams OUT OF TUNE. It's frustrating. Remember, to get rid of the warble, I have to tune the octave so sharp it becomes unusable when playing more than just that course by itself, which is all the time. Unfortunately I have no teacher or anyone who lives within hundreds of miles of me who even owns a lute (dang American Southwest). I have a violinist fried to whom I can demonstrate this problem (her ear is excellent) and while she hears it (yay I'm not crazy), she doesn't know the first things about lutes in general, let alone how to solve the problem. Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom on this subject? I've never seen it discussed before. Is there something I'm missing? Am I SOL? Is every g octave string I've owned simply evil? I'd love this to be finally put to rest. Again, thanks in advance. --
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