Dear Anthony and All,
This is welcome news. Just a comment on the rough surface of the old
nylgut:
Gut is not necessarily "rough" under the finger. In fact the Sofracob
(no more - sigh!) and Kuerschner gut strings I have been using are very
smooth and quiet. So I would be happy to think that the new Nylgut is
smoother than the old (though it is possible to hand polish the old
Nylgut a little to make it smoother).
As for the stretchiness, I would welcome less stretchiness for the
thinnest strings, more stretchiness for the thicker strings. I also
note that historical gut strings may have been even stretchier than the
old Nylgut (Thomas Mace says they stretch "an inch or two" in the
winding up - no gut treble I've ever had has stretched this much).
Bring on the new strings! I never liked the white colour, either.
Best to All,
Martin
On 18/09/2010 13:53, Anthony Hind wrote:
Dear Lutenists
It seems that Mimmo Peruffo of Aquila, who is by formation a
chemical engineer, as well as a string maker, has been busy making new
synthetic strings.
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Mimmo, fairly recently acquired an extrudor, as shown here:
[1]http://www.youtube.com/v/A5Yp1O3LS8U
and so I presume this has allowed him to develop these string on site.
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The most interesting for lutenists and historical instrument players,
would no doubt be the new nylgut, which has been developped to have the
typical colour of gut and less stretch than the old NYLGUT.
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These were the two qualities of Nylgut that many lutenists disliked,
its white colour, and its great flexibility; some actually preferred a
nylon top string, even when they used nylgut on lower strings.
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Have any of you had a chance to try these out? If so, how do they
actually compare, in your view, to the old nylgut?
Perhaps, this has already been discussed, here, and I have missed the
posting, but the only reference to it, I have come accross on a web
search, is from the Ukele player, Ken Midlleton:
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"There is almost no difference in sound between the old Nylgut and the
new ones. The main difference is the feel of them. The main difference
in sound is the noise your fingers make when they move over the
strings. The newer ones are less noisy." KM
[2]http://tinyurl.com/2au4556
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Does this mean that the new Nylgut is smoother than the old one? If so,
this one characteristic might actually be less like gut-like? I
remember, David Tayler's advice on sand papering Carbon strings in
order to diminish their bell-like sound associated with their
smoothness relative to gut.
However, the other new characteristics would probably be a welcome
improvement.
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K.M. is not comparing the New nylgut to gut, just with the old version;
and so his remarks may not be significant for lute players.
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From KM's postings, I also learnt that Aquila has developped a
new Bionylon. you can hear his Youtube recording comparing Bionylon
and the old Nylgut on the same Ukele model:
[3]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4ILpHArVKw
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A search on Aquila's pages showed that this new "eco-friendly" nylon
string, is made mainly from "castor oil". It may become available in
diameters for use on lutes, but Aquila says :
"We recommend Bionylon(R) strings for all plucked instruments such as
classical guitars and ukuleles. Colour: natural pearl"
[4]http://tinyurl.com/36x8fbj
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According to comments on KM's string test, Bionylon might be dryer
sounding than the old Nylgut.
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The same page on Materials used by Aquila, mentions a variant of Nylgut
made specifically for guitar-players using nails, which they call
"Silkgut".
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"We can define Silkgut(R) like a cousin of Nylgut(R). The difference
between Nylgut(R) and Silkgut(R) is that the Silkgut(R) is a bit
stiffer than Nylgut(R). In other therms it last longer under the finger
nails of guitar- players. Silkgut(R) is suitable for classical guitar
Trebles and modern Harp's strings. Colour: silked."
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How Silkgut and the new Nylgut differ (apart from colour) is not clear,
as presumably they are both stiffer than the old Nylgut.
Presumably, Silkgut is just not aimed at lute players, and it might be
available in limited diameters.
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Do any of you have further information about any of these strings?
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How might the new Nylgut effect the sound and feel of wire-wound Nylgut
strings, or might Mimmo produce a Nylgut specifically for this?
How about a loaded Nylgut bass string?
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Regards
Anthony
--
References
1. http://www.youtube.com/v/A5Yp1O3LS8U
2. http://tinyurl.com/2au4556
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4ILpHArVKw
4. http://tinyurl.com/36x8fbj
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